Saturday, November 10
Fort Worth, TX
9:45 AM
West Virginia University
at
TCU
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Nation's Best Teams Meet Saturday
November 09, 2018 03:36 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two of the NCAA's top rifle teams meet in a key fall matchup Saturday, as No. 2-ranked West Virginia travels to Fort Worth for a shoulder-to-shoulder match at No. 3 TCU on Nov. 10, at 9:45 a.m. ET, inside the TCU Rifle Range.
The Mountaineers (8-0, 4-0 GARC) enter the match boasting a nation-best 4704.167 season average. The Horned Frogs (3-0) sit behind WVU with a 4700.667 average.
WVU is 5-2 all-time against TCU. The Mountaineers trumped the Horned Frogs in their last regular-season meeting, earning a 4727-4717 win on Nov. 4, 2017, at the WVU Rifle Range. At the 2018 NCAA Rifle Championship, WVU finished second (4708) and TCU placed third (4701); Kentucky claimed the title with a 4717 score.
The Mountaineers last shot at the TCU Rifle Range in 2012, a 4701-4669 victory on Jan. 28.
"I think shooting at a new venue is always a bit of a challenge, but it will be exciting at the same time," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "We're well aware that TCU is one of the best teams in the country. They've been one of our competitive rivals for the last few years. This is a great challenge for us near the end of the fall semester.
"We're always looking for the team to have a good, strong performance. We want to see how this team responds to a challenge in a new venue. This may be our toughest test of the semester, and that's exactly what we're looking for."
Coming off a bye week, the Mountaineers last earned two wins in West Point, New York. WVU defeated the host Black Knights, 4712-4658, on Oct. 27, before earning a 4703-4556 win over Coast Guard on Oct. 28.
"We needed a week's break," Hammond said. "We had back-to-back weekends with two matches each. We had a lot of competition in a short period of time, and we needed to regroup and recharge the batteries. We worked on a lot of little things in practice and had good, quality hours in the range."
Senior Ginny Thrasher ranks No. 1 on the team, No. 3 nationally, with a 1180.5 aggregate average.
Junior Milica Babic paces the Mountaineers in air rifle and ranks No. 3 nationally with a 595.833 average. Classmate Morgan Phillips leads WVU with a 586.25 smallbore average, the third-best mark nationally.
TCU has won its last 12 regular-season matches and has not dropped a decision in Fort Worth since Feb. 20, 2016. Most recently, the Horned Frogs shot 4706 and finished first at VMI on Oct. 27.
Rachel Garner paces TCU and ranks No. 2 nationally with a 1183.1 aggregate average. She also ranks No. 2 nationally average of 586.6 smallbore and 596.5 air rifle.
The Mountaineers (8-0, 4-0 GARC) enter the match boasting a nation-best 4704.167 season average. The Horned Frogs (3-0) sit behind WVU with a 4700.667 average.
WVU is 5-2 all-time against TCU. The Mountaineers trumped the Horned Frogs in their last regular-season meeting, earning a 4727-4717 win on Nov. 4, 2017, at the WVU Rifle Range. At the 2018 NCAA Rifle Championship, WVU finished second (4708) and TCU placed third (4701); Kentucky claimed the title with a 4717 score.
The Mountaineers last shot at the TCU Rifle Range in 2012, a 4701-4669 victory on Jan. 28.
"I think shooting at a new venue is always a bit of a challenge, but it will be exciting at the same time," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "We're well aware that TCU is one of the best teams in the country. They've been one of our competitive rivals for the last few years. This is a great challenge for us near the end of the fall semester.
"We're always looking for the team to have a good, strong performance. We want to see how this team responds to a challenge in a new venue. This may be our toughest test of the semester, and that's exactly what we're looking for."
Coming off a bye week, the Mountaineers last earned two wins in West Point, New York. WVU defeated the host Black Knights, 4712-4658, on Oct. 27, before earning a 4703-4556 win over Coast Guard on Oct. 28.
"We needed a week's break," Hammond said. "We had back-to-back weekends with two matches each. We had a lot of competition in a short period of time, and we needed to regroup and recharge the batteries. We worked on a lot of little things in practice and had good, quality hours in the range."
Senior Ginny Thrasher ranks No. 1 on the team, No. 3 nationally, with a 1180.5 aggregate average.
Junior Milica Babic paces the Mountaineers in air rifle and ranks No. 3 nationally with a 595.833 average. Classmate Morgan Phillips leads WVU with a 586.25 smallbore average, the third-best mark nationally.
TCU has won its last 12 regular-season matches and has not dropped a decision in Fort Worth since Feb. 20, 2016. Most recently, the Horned Frogs shot 4706 and finished first at VMI on Oct. 27.
Rachel Garner paces TCU and ranks No. 2 nationally with a 1183.1 aggregate average. She also ranks No. 2 nationally average of 586.6 smallbore and 596.5 air rifle.
Players Mentioned
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Monday, December 05
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, September 30
Life as a Mountaineer - Jared Eddy
Wednesday, March 24
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, January 14
