Piatczyc Named Student-Athlete of the Week

September 04, 2018 02:50 PM | General, Men's Soccer, Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Volleyball

By: WVU Athletic Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After breaking the WVU assists school record last Friday against American, senior midfielder Joey Piatczyc of the men's soccer team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Piatczyc had three assists to break the school record for career assists to lead West Virginia to a 5-1 win over American on Friday night. He assisted on the first goal for the Mountaineers (2-1) to tie the record for career assists in the 20th minute and broke the record with an assist on WVU's third goal in the 48th minute. He added an assist on West Virginia's fourth goal in the 72nd minute.

After missing the 2017 season due to an injury, Piatczyc has an NCAA-best four assists along with a goal in the Mountaineers' first three games of the 2018 season. Piatczyc ranks No. 3 in the country with 1.33 assists per game and is No. 27 with 2.00 points per game.

Through the first two weeks of the year, no MAC squad has more than four assists as a team. His 29 career assists broke the record of 27, set by Dan Stratford from 2004-07. Piatczyc also owns the school record for assists per game, with 0.53, and shares the school record with four multi-assist matches, while he ranks No. 2 all-time with 11 game-winning assists.

This Week in Women's Soccer: The Mountaineers return to the road and travel to Clemson, South Carolina, for a match against the Tigers on Friday, Sept. 7, at 7 p.m., at Riggs Field.

Last Week in Women's Soccer: WVU (1-2-3) split its first weekend of the 2018 season at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, defeating Xavier, 3-0, on Aug. 30, before falling 2-0 to No. 11 Georgetown on Sept. 2 … freshman midfielder Addison Clark tallied the Mountaineers' first game-winner of the season in the 42nd minute against the Musketeers for her first career goal … classmate Lizzie Mayfield assisted on the score for her team-best second helper of the season … freshman defender Issy Sibley (77th minute) and sophomore midfielder Lois Joel (83rd minute) added insurance goals vs. XU, their first career goals … XU tallied just two shots vs. WVU, none on-goal, and one corner kick, all opponent season-low totals … the Mountaineers finished with 29 shots, 13 on-goal, and nine corner kicks, and junior Rylee Foster earned credit for the clean sheet, WVU's second of the season … on Sunday, a Hoya goal in the 35th minute was too much for WVU to overcome, as GU also added a score in the 76th minute … Foster made a season-high five saves … both teams registered 14 shots, and WVU forced GU into five saves … the Mountaineers also earned a 9-6 edge in corner kicks.

Notes: WVU is 0-2-1 against ranked teams this season … through three weeks of action, the Mountaineers have faced the reigning Big Ten Conference (Penn State) and BIG EAST Conference (Georgetown) champions, as well as the Big Ten runner-up (Northwestern) and the SEC runner-up (Arkansas) … senior midfielder Grace Cutler paces WVU with three points (1 G, 1 A) … Friday is just the second meeting between the Mountaineers and the Tigers and the first in Clemson.

This Week in Men's Soccer: West Virginia (2-1) is back on the road for a pair of matches, beginning on Friday, Sept. 7, at UCF … kickoff in Orlando is set for 7 p.m. ET … the Mountaineers' weekend on the road concludes at Maryland on Monday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m.

Last Week in Men's Soccer: Senior midfielder Joey Piatczyc notched three assists and broke the school record for career assists as the Mountaineers beat American, 5-1, on Friday night in their home opener … Piatczyc assisted on WVU's first goal to tie the record in the 20th minute, eventually breaking the record with an assist on West Virginia's third goal in the 48th and adding his 29th career assist in the 72nd minute … junior defender Pascal Derwaritsch and junior midfielder Ethan Shim both scored a career-high two goals, with Derwaritsch's first becoming the eventual game winner, on a penalty kick … senior forward Rushawn Larmond also scored … sophomore Steven Tekesky made three saves for the Mountaineers, who out-shot the Eagles 21-8 and had a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal … along with Piatczyc, junior midfielder Sebastian Garcia-Herreros and sophomore forward Tsubasa Takada recorded assists in the victory.

Notes: Piatczyc's 29 career assists breaks the record of 27, set by Dan Stratford from 2004-07 … Piatczyc also owns the school record for assists per game, with 0.53, and shares the school record with four multi-assist matches, while he ranks No. 2 all-time with 11 game-winning assists … after missing the 2017 season due to an injury, Piatczyc has four assists and a goal in the Mountaineers' first three games of the 2018 season … Piatczyc ranks No. 3 in the country with 1.33 assists per game and is No. 27 with 2.00 points per game … through the first two weeks of the year, no MAC team has more than four assists as a team … Along with his career records, Piatczyc's 13 assists in 2015 as a sophomore set a new program record and was No. 2 in the country, while he broke the team record with four assists in a single match on Aug. 30, vs. San Francisco.

This Week in Volleyball: West Virginia (2-4) remains on the road this week, as the Mountaineers travel south to Ft. Myers, Florida, for a two-day tournament held on Florida Gulf Coast's campus, from Sept. 7-8 ... WVU opens play against Western Illinois (1-5) at 3 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon ... the squad will then conclude the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament on Saturday, as it takes on Albany (1-5), a 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC)-qualifying team, in a 1 p.m. ET matchup, as well as host FGCU (4-2) in a 7 p.m. ET evening tilt … the Mountaineers will square off with the Leathernecks for the first time since 2002, with West Virginia holding a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series … WVU goes head-to-head with Albany for just the second time in program history, as the Mountaineers claimed a 3-1 win in their first-ever meeting with the Great Danes in 2007 … additionally, West Virginia will face Florida Gulf Coast for the first time in its 44-year history.

Last Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers dropped a trio of matches at the 2018 BYU Nike Invitational, held in Provo, Utah, last weekend … WVU opened the three-day tournament with host BYU on Thursday evening, falling in three sets to the No. 9-ranked Cougars… on Friday, West Virginia captured the first set against Wichita State, but it wasn't enough, eventually dropping a 3-1 match to the Shockers … WVU also suffered a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Stanford in its final contest of the tournament on Saturday … sophomore defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor earned all-tournament team honors for her efforts, starting all three matches at the libero position … she recorded 32 digs to average 3.20 per set, ranking eighth in the Big 12 Conference.

Notes: The Mountaineers embark on their third three-match tournament of the year this weekend … West Virginia is 10 wins away from collecting its 700th win in program history … the Mountaineers hold a 690-727 all-time record since their inaugural season in 1974 … as a team, West Virginia is hitting .143, while outblocking its opponents, 63.0-44.5 … freshman outside hitter Kristin Lux leads the team with 51 kills, followed by junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans with 50 … Proctor leads the floor defense with 70 digs, while sophomore Katie DeMeo and freshman middle blocker Kristina Jordan each have a team-high 26 blocks.

This Week in Cross Country: West Virginia is back in action on Friday, Sept. 7, at the Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pennsylvania … the women's 6k race is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET at Penn State's Blue-White Course.

Last Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers opened the 2018 season with a win at the Charlotte Opener on Aug. 31, at Frank Liske Park in Concord, North Carolina … freshman Charlotte Wood earned the individual victory in her collegiate debut, crossing the finish line in 18:17.2 (5k) … redshirt sophomore Sarah Wills finished second in 18:19.8, while redshirt junior Olivia Hill took third in 18:27.6 … redshirt sophomore Antigone Archer (eighth place, 18:49.2) and freshman Hannah Lipps (ninth place, 18:50.3) also scored for the Mountaineers … WVU earned 23 team points, topping North Carolina (40), Georgia (93), UNC Charlotte (100), Queens (132), Davidson (133) and Wake Forest (NTS).

Notes: WVU will compete at the Spiked Shoe Invitational for the seventh consecutive season … the meet also marks the first of three visits to University Park for the Mountaineers this season … last season, West Virginia placed sixth at the meet, and the squad was led by Amy Cashin's 12th-place finish (21:49) … Wood, Lipps and redshirt freshman Marianne Abdalah made their WVU cross country debuts last Friday … the Mountaineers raced at Frank Liske Park for the first time in program history … the team win marked the third consecutive season, and fourth time in five years, in which WVU began a campaign with a victory.