Evans Named Student-Athlete of the Week

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

September 17, 2018 01:29 PM | General, Golf, Men's Soccer, Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Volleyball

By: WVU Athletic Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After helping WVU claim the 2018 Mountaineer Classic tournament title, West Virginia University volleyball junior Katelyn Evans has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Evans, an outside hitter, finished the week averaging 3.67 kills per set, ranking eighth in the Big 12.

The Palmdale, California, native helped WVU post a perfect 3-0 record at the Mountaineer Classic, earning MVP honors in the process. Evans posted a season-high 18 kills and hit .293 on 41 total attempts in a five-set win over Morehead State Friday evening. In addition, she had 11 kills in a 3-0 win over Penn and 15 kills in a 3-1 win over Wake Forest on Saturday.

She finished the week hitting .280 on 100 attempts with 44 kills. Evans also closed out the two-day tournament with 10 blocks.

This Week in Women's Soccer: The Mountaineers open Big 12 Conference play with two matches in Texas this weekend … WVU first kicks at No. 24 Texas Tech on Friday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m. EST before traveling to Fort Worth for a match at TCU on Sunday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Women's Soccer: WVU (4-2-3) extended its win streak to three with a pair of wins over the weekend at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, defeating Boston, 4-0, on Sept. 13, and Saint Francis (Pa.), 2-0, on Sept. 16 … sophomore midfielder Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel tallied her first career brace against the Terriers, scoring the game-winner in the 27th minute and adding a penalty kick in the 58th minute … freshman Alina Stahl and senior Sh'Nia Gordon also tallied goals, their first of the season … against SFU, Gordon made it two for the weekend when she scored the game-winner in the 71st minute … freshman Jordan Brewster added the insurance goal in the 78th minute, her first career score … the WVU defense denied BU and SFU a shot, marking the eighth and ninth time in program history a team failed to earn a shot and the first time in 23 years the Mountaineers denied an opponent a shot in back-to-back matches … SFU also failed to earn a corner kick … WVU finished with 60 shots on the weekend.

Notes: The Mountaineers now show four shutouts this season … junior Rylee Foster earned credit for Sunday's clean sheet, pushing her career total to 23 and moving her into a tie with Hannah Steadman (2014-15) for No. 5 on the program's all-time list … sophomore Kayla Thompson split time with Foster in net against BU … WVU has allowed just seven opponent shots throughout its current win streak … Ferrer-vanGinkel paces WVU with seven points (3 G, 1 A) … Gordon continues to pace WVU with 18 career goals and 49 career points (18 G, 13 A) … the Mountaineers won five straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles from 2012-16 and own eight total Big 12 titles … Friday is WVU's first trip to Lubbock, Texas, since 2015.

This Week in Men's Soccer: West Virginia hosts former conference foe Cincinnati on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. ET, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … the contest between the former conference foe is the first Taco Tuesday of the season, with $2 walking tacos, and it also is Greek Life Night and the Maniacs will have a giveaway for WVU students … tickets are available at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800 WVU GAME … the match will be streamed live on WVUsports.com/Watch and on the WVU Gameday App … the Mountaineers are then back on the road to face Dayton on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m.

Last Week in Men's Soccer: West Virginia opened the week with a 1-0 loss at Maryland on Sept. 10, before a 3-1 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 15 … senior forward Rushawn Larmond scored a career-best two goals in the win, while senior midfielder Joey Piatczyc scored the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute … junior defender Ryan Kellogg and sophomore goalkeeper Steven Tekesky earned assists on WVU's first goal … in the loss at Maryland, WVU out-shot the Terrapins, 12-10, but a goal that deflected in off a UMD player's shoulder in the 77th minute was the difference.

Notes: With the two points on the game-winning goal, Piatczyc has 15 game-winning points in his career, tied for eighth-most in program history … Piatczyc already owns the WVU record for career assists (29), assists per game (0.5) and multi-assist games (4) … Piatczyc leads the Mid-American Conference with four assists and ranks second with eight points on the season … Tekesky leads the MAC with 26 saves, 4.33 saves per game and a .839 save percentage and is second with a .84 goals-against average … WVU improved to 3-0 when scoring two or more goals in a game in 2018 … West Virginia is a perfect 5-0 all-time against Cincinnati, including 3-0 when the teams met as Big East Conference foes in 2006, '09 and '11.

This Week in Volleyball: WVU (7-5) opens Big 12 play on Wednesday, Sept. 19, welcoming Iowa State (7-6) to the WVU Coliseum ... first serve is set for 6 p.m. … it is Winning Wednesday, as WVU students will receive an opportunity to win multiple prizes at the match … tickets for WVU students are free with a valid student I.D. … following Wednesday's evening matchup with the Cyclones, the Mountaineers will travel to Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 22, for a match against Texas Tech (11-3), at 2 p.m.

Last Week in Volleyball: West Virginia made it four straight wins, going 3-0 last weekend to claim the 2018 Mountaineer Classic … West Virginia came back from two sets down, winning a five-set thriller over Morehead State in its opening match of the two-day tournament on Friday evening … junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans paved the way for WVU with a season-high 18 kills, as the Mountaineers finished the match hitting .201 … West Virginia did not miss a beat on Saturday, closing out the Mountaineer Classic with a 3-0 win over Penn and a 3-1 win over Wake Forest … Evans hit .280 with 3.67 kills per set and added 10 blocks throughout the weekend, earning MVP honors … sophomore middle blocker Kate DeMeo averaged 1.92 blocks per set, totaling 23 blocks in a trio of matches, as she joined Evans on the all-tournament team … DeMeo also hit .369 on the weekend with 2.58 kills per set.

Notes: The Mountaineers and the Cyclones meet for the 16th time overall on Wednesday and the 13th time in league play since WVU joined the Big 12 in 2012 … ISU owns a 14-1 all-time series advantage, as the Cyclones picked up 3-0 win over the Mountaineers in their most recent meeting on Nov. 8, 2017, held inside the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown … the Mountaineers and the Red Raiders meet for the 15th time overall on Saturday and the 13th time in league … the all-time series is knotted at seven wins apiece, with West Virginia picking up the latest victory over Texas Tech on Nov. 11, 2017 … the Mountaineers are five wins away from collecting their 700th win in program history … West Virginia currently holds a 695-727 all-time record since its inaugural season in 1974 … as a team, WVU is hitting .163, while outblocking its opponents, 119.0-82.5 … Evans leads the team with 2.79 kills per set, followed by freshman outside hitter Kristin Lux, with 2.50 per set … sophomore defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor leads the floor defense with 2.95 digs per set, while DeMeo leads the blocking efforts, with 61 total blocks, averaging 1.61 per set to rank second in the Big 12 Conference … as of Sept. 12, DeMeo is tied for 18th nationally in blocks per set … the Mountaineers also rank second in the league, averaging 2.70 blocks per set, and are 31st in the nation, as of Sept. 12.

This Week in Cross Country: WVU travels to the Lock Haven XC Open in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Sept. 22 … the women's 6k race is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET.

Last Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers were off last week … the team last competed at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 7, in University Park, Pennsylvania … redshirt sophomore Sarah Wills led WVU with an 11th-place showing, finishing the Blue-White Golf Course (6k) in 21:28 ... two other Mountaineers finished in the top 30, as redshirt sophomore Antigone Archer finished 20th in 22:07, while freshman Hannah Lipps took 21st in 22:08 ... sophomore Bree Warren (33rd - 22:20) and redshirt freshman Marianne Abdalah (42nd - 22:41) also scored for WVU.

Notes: West Virginia will compete in its first cross country race at Lock Haven since 2007 ... WVU won the event 11 years ago, with former All-American and current graduate assistant Clara (Grandt) Santucci winning the race in 20:34 ... last week, West Virginia ranked No. 6 in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings … Wills owns two top-11 finishes to start the season, while Archer has finished in the top 20 twice this fall.

This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers open the 2018-19 season on Monday at the VCU Invitational in Richmond, Virginia … teams will play 36 holes on Monday, followed by the final 18 on Tuesday … Matthew Sharpstene, Max Sear, Kurtis Grant, Mark Goetz and Etienne Papineau will represent WVU … Philipp Matlari will compete as an individual … VCU (host), Richmond, Maryland, Villanova, Penn State, James Madison, Old Dominion, George Washington, Radford and Virginia Tech make up the field … the event will take place on the par-72, 6,927-yard Tuckahoe Creek Course at the Country Club of Virginia … WVU is the defending champion at the event after shooting 22-under-par to win the 2017 team title.

Notes: The West Virginia golf team is coming of its best season to date in year three of its reintroduction … the Mountaineers claimed team titles at the Janney VCU Shootout and the Martin Downs Intercollegiate … the team also posted runner-up finishes at The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational, the Furman Intercollegiate and Penn State's Rutherford Intercollegiate … WVU posted a win-loss record of 83-66-2 to finish with a .563 winning percentage, a tally that has more than doubled since the program's first season in 2015-16 … West Virginia also posted its first-ever top-100 ranking, capping the season at No. 90 via GolfStat … the Mountaineers have improved in the classroom as well, posting a team GPA of 3.16 for an improvement of 0.41 since 2015-16 … the team also claimed its best-ever finishing at the 2018 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship, defeating K-State to finish ninth.

Coach Sean Covich heading into the Janney VCU Shootout: "Weather conditions will certainly play a factor this week as we will have to deal with the remnants of Hurricane Florence. The golf course will be extremely wet; we expect some winds and rain throughout the event so being mentally strong and remaining positive will be at a premium this week. We are looking forward to competing in our first event of the season at a golf course we have played for a few years in a row."