Wednesday, October 31
Morgantown, W.Va.
6:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
10-13, 2-8
1
vs
3
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Kansas
14-7, 7-3
1
2
3
4
F
Kansas
25
21
30
25
3
West Virginia
22
25
28
13
1
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Suffers a Four-Set Loss to KU
October 31, 2018 09:54 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite hitting .229 on the evening, the West Virginia University volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Big 12 foe Kansas on Wednesday, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown. The Jayhawks (14-7, 7-3) took the match from the Mountaineers (10-13, 2-8) in set scores of 25-22, 21-25, 30-28 and 25-13.
"I thought we competed pretty well in the first three sets," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "We had chances to pull it out in the third. Unfortunately, we didn't. We didn't make plays down the stretch. In the fourth, we shot ourselves in the foot. Kansas played well. They are a good team. You can't do that against a ranked team or a team with tradition. It's on us. We have to get better."
Sophomore middle blocker Katie DeMeo had a team-best 13 kills for WVU, hitting .444 in the match. Junior right side hitter Natania Levak and junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans followed suit with 12 kills each, while freshman outside hitter Kristin Lux rounded out the Mountaineers in double-digits with 11, hitting .214 on the evening.
Junior defensive specialist Gabrielle Cuckovich had a team-high 14 digs, matching her career high set as a freshman. Sophomore defensive specialist Alexa Hasting added 11 digs in the match, followed by classmate Lindsay Proctor with eight.
Freshman setter Lacey Zerwas dished out 40 of WVU's 52 assists, with Hasting adding five to the Mountaineer total. WVU also notched six service aces on the evening, as Proctor served up a team-high two aces.
The Mountaineers finished the match hitting .229 with 56 kills and 52 digs. The Jayhawks hit .310 with 59 kills on 142 total attempts, adding 12 team blocks. Jada Burse led KU's offense with 21 kills, while Rachel Langs had a team-high eight blocks assists.
After playing to four lead changes and 14 ties throughout the course of the set, Kansas scored on a kill from Gabby Simpson to take the 25-22 first-set victory in the match. Down 19-17 late in the frame, the Mountaineers used their final timeout. Levak found the floor out of the break, but the Jayhawks racked up four straight points for the 23-18 advantage. A WVU service error brought KU to set point, but Evans came up with a huge kill to extend the set at 24-20. The Mountaineers capitalized on a pair of Jayhawk errors to come within two at 24-22, but Kansas eventually won the set off a Simpson kill for the 1-0 match advantage.
Both teams traded points early in the second set before the Mountaineers used a 4-0 scoring run to their advantage for a 13-11 lead. Burse put down a kill to remain with one, but the Jayhawks were not able to regain the lead down the stretch. A kill from DeMeo gave WVU a four-point edge at 21-17, as KU used its final timeout of the set. Kansas notched back-to-back points out of the stoppage to cut its deficit to two, but it wasn't enough, as West Virginia scored four of the last six points to win the frame, 25-21.
Attempting to carry momentum into the third stanza, WVU used a pair of scoring runs to take an early 8-3 lead. However, KU used a four-point scoring streak of its own midway through the frame to tie the set at 14-all. Both squads then exchanged a series of runs down the stretch, as the Mountaineers used back-to-back kills from Evans to knot the set at 23-23. Kansas took a timeout, as Burse placed one through the pins out of the stoppage, bringing the Jayhawks to set point. However, West Virginia capitalized on a pair of Kansas errors to remain in the frame, serving its first set point at 26-25. WVU couldn't put things away, though, as the Mountaineers served set point three more times, while the Jayhawks served to cap the set on a trio of occasions. KU used a WVU service error to its advantage, followed by back-to-back kills from Ashley Smith, as the Mountaineers dropped the frame, 30-28, to give the Jayhawks a 2-1 match lead.
West Virginia's momentum faded in the fourth, though, as Kansas used a series of scoring streaks for the 22-10 advantage. Lux put down a kill, but the Mountaineers couldn't recover, as the Jayhawks notched back-to-back points for the 25-13 fourth-set victory and 3-1 win in the match.
Of note, the Mountaineers are two wins away from collecting their 700th win in program history. West Virginia currently holds a 698-736 all-time record since its inaugural season in 1974.
Looking ahead, The Mountaineers will trek to Manhattan, Kansas, to square off with Kansas State on Saturday, Nov. 3. First serve is set for 8 p.m. ET inside Ahearn Field House. WVU swept K-State in its most recent meeting on Sept. 26, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
"I thought we competed pretty well in the first three sets," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "We had chances to pull it out in the third. Unfortunately, we didn't. We didn't make plays down the stretch. In the fourth, we shot ourselves in the foot. Kansas played well. They are a good team. You can't do that against a ranked team or a team with tradition. It's on us. We have to get better."
Sophomore middle blocker Katie DeMeo had a team-best 13 kills for WVU, hitting .444 in the match. Junior right side hitter Natania Levak and junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans followed suit with 12 kills each, while freshman outside hitter Kristin Lux rounded out the Mountaineers in double-digits with 11, hitting .214 on the evening.
Junior defensive specialist Gabrielle Cuckovich had a team-high 14 digs, matching her career high set as a freshman. Sophomore defensive specialist Alexa Hasting added 11 digs in the match, followed by classmate Lindsay Proctor with eight.
Freshman setter Lacey Zerwas dished out 40 of WVU's 52 assists, with Hasting adding five to the Mountaineer total. WVU also notched six service aces on the evening, as Proctor served up a team-high two aces.
The Mountaineers finished the match hitting .229 with 56 kills and 52 digs. The Jayhawks hit .310 with 59 kills on 142 total attempts, adding 12 team blocks. Jada Burse led KU's offense with 21 kills, while Rachel Langs had a team-high eight blocks assists.
After playing to four lead changes and 14 ties throughout the course of the set, Kansas scored on a kill from Gabby Simpson to take the 25-22 first-set victory in the match. Down 19-17 late in the frame, the Mountaineers used their final timeout. Levak found the floor out of the break, but the Jayhawks racked up four straight points for the 23-18 advantage. A WVU service error brought KU to set point, but Evans came up with a huge kill to extend the set at 24-20. The Mountaineers capitalized on a pair of Jayhawk errors to come within two at 24-22, but Kansas eventually won the set off a Simpson kill for the 1-0 match advantage.
Both teams traded points early in the second set before the Mountaineers used a 4-0 scoring run to their advantage for a 13-11 lead. Burse put down a kill to remain with one, but the Jayhawks were not able to regain the lead down the stretch. A kill from DeMeo gave WVU a four-point edge at 21-17, as KU used its final timeout of the set. Kansas notched back-to-back points out of the stoppage to cut its deficit to two, but it wasn't enough, as West Virginia scored four of the last six points to win the frame, 25-21.
Attempting to carry momentum into the third stanza, WVU used a pair of scoring runs to take an early 8-3 lead. However, KU used a four-point scoring streak of its own midway through the frame to tie the set at 14-all. Both squads then exchanged a series of runs down the stretch, as the Mountaineers used back-to-back kills from Evans to knot the set at 23-23. Kansas took a timeout, as Burse placed one through the pins out of the stoppage, bringing the Jayhawks to set point. However, West Virginia capitalized on a pair of Kansas errors to remain in the frame, serving its first set point at 26-25. WVU couldn't put things away, though, as the Mountaineers served set point three more times, while the Jayhawks served to cap the set on a trio of occasions. KU used a WVU service error to its advantage, followed by back-to-back kills from Ashley Smith, as the Mountaineers dropped the frame, 30-28, to give the Jayhawks a 2-1 match lead.
West Virginia's momentum faded in the fourth, though, as Kansas used a series of scoring streaks for the 22-10 advantage. Lux put down a kill, but the Mountaineers couldn't recover, as the Jayhawks notched back-to-back points for the 25-13 fourth-set victory and 3-1 win in the match.
Of note, the Mountaineers are two wins away from collecting their 700th win in program history. West Virginia currently holds a 698-736 all-time record since its inaugural season in 1974.
Looking ahead, The Mountaineers will trek to Manhattan, Kansas, to square off with Kansas State on Saturday, Nov. 3. First serve is set for 8 p.m. ET inside Ahearn Field House. WVU swept K-State in its most recent meeting on Sept. 26, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
KU
WVU
Kills
61
54
Errors
16
23
Attempts
142
141
Hitting %
.317
.220
Points
78.0
62.0
Assists
55
50
Aces
5
6
Blocks
12.0
2.0
Game Leaders
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
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