Friday, September 7
Ft. Myers, Fla.
3:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Western Illinois
Photo by: Steven Prunty
West Virginia Heads to the Sunshine State
September 06, 2018 11:42 AM | Volleyball
FT. MYERS, Fla. – The West Virginia University volleyball team heads to its third nonconference tournament of the season, as the Mountaineers travel south to Ft. Myers, Florida, to compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament, held on FGCU's campus at Alico Arena, from Sept. 7-8.
WVU (2-4) opens play against Western Illinois (1-5) at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7. The Mountaineers will conclude play at the two-day tournament on Saturday, as they take 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. evening tilt.
West Virginia's first two matches will be streamed live on Facebook Watch, while John Vittas and Thais Baziquetto-Allen call the match vs. Florida Gulf Coast on ESPN3 Saturday evening.
Live stats and video for all three matches can be found at WVUsports.com.
"In this day in age, anyone can beat anyone," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "We need to take care of our side. We can't worry so much about the other side right now. We need to get better on our side. We are taking it one game at a time. We can't look past anyone. We have to take care of business when we go down to Florida, starting with Western Illinois on Friday."
West Virginia has previously faced two of three teams participating in the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament this weekend.
It's been 16 years since West Virginia and Western Illinois last squared off. The two teams have played just twice since 1998, with the Mountaineers claiming both matches at neutral sites.
WVU also will go head-to-head with Albany for the second time in program history. The Mountaineers earned the 3-1 victory over the Great Danes in their first-ever meeting on Sept. 1, 2007.
On the other hand, Florida Gulf Coast is the last of three first-time opponents on the Mountaineers' 2018 schedule. FGCU is the 246th opponent WVU will face in its 44-year history, as the Mountaineers went head-to-head with Stanford and Wichita State for the first time last weekend.
West Virginia is currently on a four-match losing streak, falling to a pair of teams ranked in the top-10 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll at last weekend's BYU Nike Invitational, held in Provo, Utah.
WVU opened play with host BYU on Aug. 30, falling in three sets to the No. 9-ranked Cougars. On Aug. 31, 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 three-day tournament on Saturday.
"Hopefully, last weekend was an eye opener for us," Sunahara said. "I was disappointed in our play. I thought we would've competed a lot harder. I saw what I needed to see, and we learned from it. I talked to our coaches, and we came up with a new game plan for this coming weekend."
Sophomore defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor earned all-tournament team honors for her efforts last weekend, starting all three matches at the libero position. She currently leads the team with 70 digs on the year, averaging 3.33 per set to rank ninth in the Big 12 Conference.
Additionally, sophomore middle blocker Katie DeMeo leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth nationally with 1.73 blocks per set, posting 26 blocks in 15 sets. Freshman middle blocker Kristina Jordan is tied for sixth in the league, with 26 blocks as well, averaging 1.30 per set. As a team, the Mountaineers rank second in the conference behind Texas, averaging 3.00 blocks per set. WVU also is tied for 12th nationally in the category with a pair of programs (Notre Dame and Washington State).
Seven of nine freshmen have made it into the Mountaineers rotation thus far, with outside hitter Kristin Lux and Jordan starting all six matches for West Virginia. Lux currently leads the squad with 51 kills for 2.43 per set, followed by junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans with 50 for 2.55 per set.
Of note, the Mountaineers are 10 wins away from collecting their 700th win in program history. West Virginia currently holds a 690-727 all-time record since its inaugural season in 1974.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
WVU (2-4) opens play against Western Illinois (1-5) at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7. The Mountaineers will conclude play at the two-day tournament on Saturday, as they take 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. evening tilt.
West Virginia's first two matches will be streamed live on Facebook Watch, while John Vittas and Thais Baziquetto-Allen call the match vs. Florida Gulf Coast on ESPN3 Saturday evening.
Live stats and video for all three matches can be found at WVUsports.com.
"In this day in age, anyone can beat anyone," fourth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "We need to take care of our side. We can't worry so much about the other side right now. We need to get better on our side. We are taking it one game at a time. We can't look past anyone. We have to take care of business when we go down to Florida, starting with Western Illinois on Friday."
West Virginia has previously faced two of three teams participating in the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament this weekend.
It's been 16 years since West Virginia and Western Illinois last squared off. The two teams have played just twice since 1998, with the Mountaineers claiming both matches at neutral sites.
WVU also will go head-to-head with Albany for the second time in program history. The Mountaineers earned the 3-1 victory over the Great Danes in their first-ever meeting on Sept. 1, 2007.
On the other hand, Florida Gulf Coast is the last of three first-time opponents on the Mountaineers' 2018 schedule. FGCU is the 246th opponent WVU will face in its 44-year history, as the Mountaineers went head-to-head with Stanford and Wichita State for the first time last weekend.
West Virginia is currently on a four-match losing streak, falling to a pair of teams ranked in the top-10 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll at last weekend's BYU Nike Invitational, held in Provo, Utah.
WVU opened play with host BYU on Aug. 30, falling in three sets to the No. 9-ranked Cougars. On Aug. 31, 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 three-day tournament on Saturday.
"Hopefully, last weekend was an eye opener for us," Sunahara said. "I was disappointed in our play. I thought we would've competed a lot harder. I saw what I needed to see, and we learned from it. I talked to our coaches, and we came up with a new game plan for this coming weekend."
Sophomore defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor earned all-tournament team honors for her efforts last weekend, starting all three matches at the libero position. She currently leads the team with 70 digs on the year, averaging 3.33 per set to rank ninth in the Big 12 Conference.
Additionally, sophomore middle blocker Katie DeMeo leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth nationally with 1.73 blocks per set, posting 26 blocks in 15 sets. Freshman middle blocker Kristina Jordan is tied for sixth in the league, with 26 blocks as well, averaging 1.30 per set. As a team, the Mountaineers rank second in the conference behind Texas, averaging 3.00 blocks per set. WVU also is tied for 12th nationally in the category with a pair of programs (Notre Dame and Washington State).
Seven of nine freshmen have made it into the Mountaineers rotation thus far, with outside hitter Kristin Lux and Jordan starting all six matches for West Virginia. Lux currently leads the squad with 51 kills for 2.43 per set, followed by junior outside hitter Katelyn Evans with 50 for 2.55 per set.
Of note, the Mountaineers are 10 wins away from collecting their 700th win in program history. West Virginia currently holds a 690-727 all-time record since its inaugural season in 1974.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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