Saturday, August 25
Morgantown, W.Va.
3:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
2-1
1
vs
3
Wright State
2-1
1
2
3
4
F
Wright State
25
27
19
25
3
West Virginia
20
25
25
21
1
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
West Virginia Stumbles vs. Wright State
August 25, 2018 07:42 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite 56 kills from the offense, the West Virginia University volleyball team fell to Wright State, 3-1, in its first setback of the season Saturday afternoon, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown. The Raiders (2-1) took the match in set scores of 25-20, 27-25, 19-25 and 25-21.
Saturday marked the Mountaineers' first loss of the season, moving them to 2-1 on the year. Despite the loss, West Virginia walked away with the 2018 WVU Invitational title. The winner was based on a set-percentage tiebreaker due to West Virginia, Wright State and UConn sharing a 2-1 overall record at the two-day tournament. The Mountaineers were 8-6 with a set percentage of .636, while the Raiders finished as the tournament's runner-up with a percentage of .571. UConn came in third (.461).
Additionally, junior hitters Natania Levak and Katelyn Evans earned all-tournament team honors for their efforts.
Evans led WVU with 15 kills against Wright State, adding four digs as well. Levak posed 11 kills, while freshman outside hitter Kristin Lux rounded out the Mountaineers in double-digits with 10.
Sophomore middle blocker Briana Lynch led the blocking effort with five total blocks, while Lux and freshman middle blocker Kristina Jordan each added four.
Junior setter Erin Slinde had 25 of the squad's 50 assists, with freshman setter Lacey Zerwas adding 21. Slinde also had seven digs and a pair of kills.
Freshman Keatan Broughton had a team-high 14 digs, while sophomore defensive specialists Alexa Hasting and Lindsay Proctor shared time at the libero position, notching 12 digs each.
The Mountaineers posted 56 kills and 11 team blocks in the loss. The Raiders had 52 kills and 11 team blocks. Teddie Sauer and Abby Barcus led the Raiders offense with 11 kills apiece, while Jenny Story had a team-high 30 digs.
"We've got a long way to go," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "I thought we did some nice things, but I thought we dug ourselves too many holes to overcome. Wright State played well. We need to learn to stay aggressive, especially in close matches."
WVU got off to a rocky start in set one, falling behind 13-6 after a 5-0 WSU run. The squads continued to trade points before WVU countered with a 3-0 run of its own, bringing the Mountaineers within three at 14-11. However, a pair of kills from the Raiders, as well as two WVU attacking errors, put the Mountaineers in a hole. With Wright State holding a 19-12 advantage, West Virginia called a timeout to regroup. The Mountaineers scored on five of the next six points out of the stoppage, cutting their deficit to three, but the Raiders prevailed down the stretch, throwing down a pair of kills to claim the 25-20 victory.
Both squads exchanged points early in the second set before Wright State racked up four straight points for the 18-15 advantage. A kill from Lux halted the Raiders run, but Wright State did not back down, adding four more points on the board for a 22-19 lead. Evans added a pair of kills later in the set to cut the squad's deficit to two, but a Mountaineer attacking error allowed the Raiders to reach set point. Trailing 24-21, West Virginia used four straight errors from Wright State to take a 25-24 lead. However, a pair of kills and a service ace helped the Raiders seal the deal for a 27-25 win and the 2-0 match lead.
West Virginia battled back in the third set, as the squad capitalized on a trio of kills for a 16-15 lead midway through the frame. Wright State took a timeout, eventually tying the set at 18-all with a kill from Sauer. However, West Virginia managed to score seven of the next eight points, earning a 25-19 win to force a fourth set.
Wright State took a commanding lead early in the fourth set, using a 4-0 run to make the score 6-1. West Virginia bounced back with five straight points of its own, using a WSU ball handling error to its advantage for a 10-9 lead. However, the squad couldn't hold on to the momentum, as the Raiders racked up four straight points of their own, forcing West Virginia to call a timeout down 19-14. The Mountaineers cut their deficit to two down the stretch, trailing 21-19, but the Raiders collected four of the last six points to walk away with the 25-21 win and the match.
Up next, West Virginia heads to Provo, Utah, to face three teams which made the NCAA Tournament last season. The Mountaineers square off with host No. 8 BYU at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday before taking on Wichita State in a 5 p.m. ET tilt on Friday. West Virginia will conclude the three-day BYU Nike Invitational with a 7 p.m. ET match against No. 1 Stanford on Saturday.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Saturday marked the Mountaineers' first loss of the season, moving them to 2-1 on the year. Despite the loss, West Virginia walked away with the 2018 WVU Invitational title. The winner was based on a set-percentage tiebreaker due to West Virginia, Wright State and UConn sharing a 2-1 overall record at the two-day tournament. The Mountaineers were 8-6 with a set percentage of .636, while the Raiders finished as the tournament's runner-up with a percentage of .571. UConn came in third (.461).
Additionally, junior hitters Natania Levak and Katelyn Evans earned all-tournament team honors for their efforts.
Evans led WVU with 15 kills against Wright State, adding four digs as well. Levak posed 11 kills, while freshman outside hitter Kristin Lux rounded out the Mountaineers in double-digits with 10.
Sophomore middle blocker Briana Lynch led the blocking effort with five total blocks, while Lux and freshman middle blocker Kristina Jordan each added four.
Junior setter Erin Slinde had 25 of the squad's 50 assists, with freshman setter Lacey Zerwas adding 21. Slinde also had seven digs and a pair of kills.
Freshman Keatan Broughton had a team-high 14 digs, while sophomore defensive specialists Alexa Hasting and Lindsay Proctor shared time at the libero position, notching 12 digs each.
The Mountaineers posted 56 kills and 11 team blocks in the loss. The Raiders had 52 kills and 11 team blocks. Teddie Sauer and Abby Barcus led the Raiders offense with 11 kills apiece, while Jenny Story had a team-high 30 digs.
"We've got a long way to go," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "I thought we did some nice things, but I thought we dug ourselves too many holes to overcome. Wright State played well. We need to learn to stay aggressive, especially in close matches."
WVU got off to a rocky start in set one, falling behind 13-6 after a 5-0 WSU run. The squads continued to trade points before WVU countered with a 3-0 run of its own, bringing the Mountaineers within three at 14-11. However, a pair of kills from the Raiders, as well as two WVU attacking errors, put the Mountaineers in a hole. With Wright State holding a 19-12 advantage, West Virginia called a timeout to regroup. The Mountaineers scored on five of the next six points out of the stoppage, cutting their deficit to three, but the Raiders prevailed down the stretch, throwing down a pair of kills to claim the 25-20 victory.
Both squads exchanged points early in the second set before Wright State racked up four straight points for the 18-15 advantage. A kill from Lux halted the Raiders run, but Wright State did not back down, adding four more points on the board for a 22-19 lead. Evans added a pair of kills later in the set to cut the squad's deficit to two, but a Mountaineer attacking error allowed the Raiders to reach set point. Trailing 24-21, West Virginia used four straight errors from Wright State to take a 25-24 lead. However, a pair of kills and a service ace helped the Raiders seal the deal for a 27-25 win and the 2-0 match lead.
West Virginia battled back in the third set, as the squad capitalized on a trio of kills for a 16-15 lead midway through the frame. Wright State took a timeout, eventually tying the set at 18-all with a kill from Sauer. However, West Virginia managed to score seven of the next eight points, earning a 25-19 win to force a fourth set.
Wright State took a commanding lead early in the fourth set, using a 4-0 run to make the score 6-1. West Virginia bounced back with five straight points of its own, using a WSU ball handling error to its advantage for a 10-9 lead. However, the squad couldn't hold on to the momentum, as the Raiders racked up four straight points of their own, forcing West Virginia to call a timeout down 19-14. The Mountaineers cut their deficit to two down the stretch, trailing 21-19, but the Raiders collected four of the last six points to walk away with the 25-21 win and the match.
Up next, West Virginia heads to Provo, Utah, to face three teams which made the NCAA Tournament last season. The Mountaineers square off with host No. 8 BYU at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday before taking on Wichita State in a 5 p.m. ET tilt on Friday. West Virginia will conclude the three-day BYU Nike Invitational with a 7 p.m. ET match against No. 1 Stanford on Saturday.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
WSU
WVU
Kills
52
56
Errors
25
29
Attempts
162
167
Hitting %
.167
.162
Points
66.0
71.0
Assists
46
50
Aces
3
4
Blocks
11.0
11.0
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S
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