WVU Falls at No. 5 Texas

Saturday, November 24

Austin, Texas

2:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

11-19, 2-14Big 12

Texas

20-4, 15-1Big 12

Team	1	2	3	Final F
West Virginia	11	22	18	0
TEXAS	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Katie MacCrory

November 24, 2018 03:55 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Amy Salvatore

AUSTIN, Texas – The West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to No. 5 Texas in its final contest of the season on Saturday afternoon, at Gregory Gymnasium, in Austin. UT took the match from WVU in set scores of 25-11, 25-22 and 25-18.

The Mountaineers end the 2018 season with an 11-19 mark and 2-14 record in Big 12 play. The Longhorns move to 20-4 overall and 15-1 in league action.

"Texas is consistently one of the top teams in the country, and today, they showed why," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "We still have some work to do, but I like the direction we're heading."

Junior right side hitter Natania Levak and junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans paced the Mountaineers' offense with 10 kills apiece. Levak hit a team-high .600 in the match, while Evans had a .208 hitting efficiency.

Sophomore defensive specialist Alexa Hasting led the floor defense with 15 digs, while freshman setter Lacey Zerwas dished out 25 assists in the match.

Freshman middle blocker Kristina Jordan also served up a pair of aces. West Virginia hit .190 with 33 kills and one team block in the loss. Texas hit .457 with 50 kills and 10 team blocks.

The Longhorns scored six in a row for an 11-3 lead and never looked back. The Mountaineers used a pair of Texas errors on a 3-0 scoring run to come within seven on a kill from Evans, down 15-8. Sophomore middle blocker Katie DeMeo, Evans and Levak each added a kill down the stretch, but UT finished the frame on a 5-0 scoring streak to claim the 25-11 win and 1-0 match lead.

The second frame started similar to the first, with Texas racking up six consecutive points for the 11-4 advantage. Back-to-back aces from Jordan and a kill from Evans brought WVU within four, down 14-10. Texas called a timeout, but West Virginia collected six of the next eight points to cut its deficit to one at 17-16. Both squads exchanged points down the stretch before a UT kill and a WVU attacking error gave the Longhorns the three-point edge at 20-17. West Virginia took a timeout to regroup, capitalizing on a pair of Texas' miscues to remain within one at 20-19. Evans and Levak each notched a kill late in the frame, but the Longhorns took a 2-0 match lead following back-to-back kills of their own for the 25-22 second-set victory.

Texas used a 4-0 scoring streak to jump out to a 6-2 lead in the third. West Virginia called a timeout, as a pair of kills from Levak kept the Mountaineers within four at 10-6. The teams traded points down the stretch, but a Texas kill, followed by an ace, increased the Longhorns lead to seven at 18-11. West Virginia called its final timeout of the frame, but couldn't recover, as Texas took three of the last four points for a 25-18 win in the set and a 3-0 victory in the match.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.