Wednesday, October 30
Morgantown, W.Va.
6:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
11-11, 2-7
3
vs
1
Kansas State
7-14, 2-7
1
2
3
4
F
K-State
28
15
17
19
1
West Virginia
26
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Brian Persinger / WVU Photograph
Mountaineers Find Offensive Spark
October 30, 2019 10:00 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bouncing back from a first-set loss, the West Virginia University volleyball team won three straight sets to top Kansas State, 3-1, for its second Big 12 victory of the season on Wednesday, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown. The Mountaineers (11-11, 2-7) downed the Wildcats (7-14, 2-7) in set scores of 26-28, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-19.
WVU also earned its first Big 12 sweep of the season, sweeping K-State in the home-and-away series for the first time since 2017. With tonight's victory, West Virginia has picked up a win over Kansas State in five of its last six meetings.
"Any win is great," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "I'm proud with how we played tonight. We never gave up. After the first set, it could have gone the other way. I'm proud of the girls. They were resilient. I thought we had chances to win the first, but they played better than us down the stretch. We came out strong in the second and third. The fourth got a little dicey, but we pulled away."
Behind 19 kills from senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans, the Mountaineers hit .314 with 63 kills on 153 swings. Evans recorded 19 kills for the second consecutive match, notching double-figures in her last 10 matches.
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch was not far behind her, totaling 13 kills on 28 attacks to hit .357. Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan and senior right-side hitter Erin Slinde rounded out the Mountaineers in double-digits, registering 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Slinde posted a .409 hitting efficiency, while Jordan hit .375.
Additionally, sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas recorded her seventh double-double of the season, dishing out 46 assists to go along with 12 digs. The Phoenix, Arizona, native also served up a pair of aces and collected six kills, a career high, for a team-best .667 hitting percentage.
Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting anchored the floor defense, digging 16 balls, while classmate Lindsay Proctor followed suit with 12 for a season high.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Audrey Adams led WVU's blocking efforts with five block assists, followed by Lynch with four and Slinde with three. WVU finished the match with nine team blocks.
Kansas State, led by a combined 26 kills from Anna Dixon and Brynn Carlson, hit .152 with 51 kills and three team blocks.
Despite hitting .234 with 16 kills in the first set, the Mountaineers fell to the Wildcats by a score of 28-26 in the frame. Tied at 24-all, WVU capitalized on a K-State attacking error to reach its first of two set points in the stanza. K-State called a timeout, eventually scoring four of the last five points out of the stoppage for the 1-0 match advantage.
WVU bounced back in set two for a 25-15 win. A kill from Lynch jump started a 7-0 scoring run for the Mountaineers, as the Wildcats took a timeout, down 17-11. Adams later came through with a kill before three straight miscues from Kansas State handed West Virginia the 23-14 advantage. A K-State service error then put WVU at set point, as Zerwas served up her first ace of the evening to tie the match at one set apiece.
The third set started similar to the second, as the Mountaineers rattled off six in a row for the 6-1 lead and never looked back. Zerwas used a setter dump to spark another 5-0 scoring surge down the stretch, as WVU increased its lead to nine at 23-14. However, K-State answered with a 3-0 scoring run of its own to trim its deficit to six. WVU burned a timeout to regroup, as Evans came up with a huge swing to bring up set point at 24-17. Slinde and Lynch teamed up for the stop on the next serve, putting the set away for WVU, who grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match.
Evans had an impressive six kills in the fourth set alone, as WVU hit .349 in the 25-19 win. The two teams battled, but the Mountaineers used a pair of scoring streaks to gain the upper-hand at 18-11. The Wildcats fought their way back though, scoring four of five down the stretch to come within four at 20-16. Consecutive kills from Jordan put WVU up 22-16, as Zerwas sneaked another one past the K-State defenders for the 23-17 lead. Evans later scored two more kills to cap the set, as West Virginia captured the 3-1 match victory.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will return to the Lone Star State on Sunday, Nov. 3, for a nationally televised matchup against No. 1 Texas, at Gregory Gymnasium, in Austin, Texas. First serve is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
WVU also earned its first Big 12 sweep of the season, sweeping K-State in the home-and-away series for the first time since 2017. With tonight's victory, West Virginia has picked up a win over Kansas State in five of its last six meetings.
"Any win is great," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "I'm proud with how we played tonight. We never gave up. After the first set, it could have gone the other way. I'm proud of the girls. They were resilient. I thought we had chances to win the first, but they played better than us down the stretch. We came out strong in the second and third. The fourth got a little dicey, but we pulled away."
Behind 19 kills from senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans, the Mountaineers hit .314 with 63 kills on 153 swings. Evans recorded 19 kills for the second consecutive match, notching double-figures in her last 10 matches.
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch was not far behind her, totaling 13 kills on 28 attacks to hit .357. Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan and senior right-side hitter Erin Slinde rounded out the Mountaineers in double-digits, registering 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Slinde posted a .409 hitting efficiency, while Jordan hit .375.
Additionally, sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas recorded her seventh double-double of the season, dishing out 46 assists to go along with 12 digs. The Phoenix, Arizona, native also served up a pair of aces and collected six kills, a career high, for a team-best .667 hitting percentage.
Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting anchored the floor defense, digging 16 balls, while classmate Lindsay Proctor followed suit with 12 for a season high.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Audrey Adams led WVU's blocking efforts with five block assists, followed by Lynch with four and Slinde with three. WVU finished the match with nine team blocks.
Kansas State, led by a combined 26 kills from Anna Dixon and Brynn Carlson, hit .152 with 51 kills and three team blocks.
Despite hitting .234 with 16 kills in the first set, the Mountaineers fell to the Wildcats by a score of 28-26 in the frame. Tied at 24-all, WVU capitalized on a K-State attacking error to reach its first of two set points in the stanza. K-State called a timeout, eventually scoring four of the last five points out of the stoppage for the 1-0 match advantage.
WVU bounced back in set two for a 25-15 win. A kill from Lynch jump started a 7-0 scoring run for the Mountaineers, as the Wildcats took a timeout, down 17-11. Adams later came through with a kill before three straight miscues from Kansas State handed West Virginia the 23-14 advantage. A K-State service error then put WVU at set point, as Zerwas served up her first ace of the evening to tie the match at one set apiece.
The third set started similar to the second, as the Mountaineers rattled off six in a row for the 6-1 lead and never looked back. Zerwas used a setter dump to spark another 5-0 scoring surge down the stretch, as WVU increased its lead to nine at 23-14. However, K-State answered with a 3-0 scoring run of its own to trim its deficit to six. WVU burned a timeout to regroup, as Evans came up with a huge swing to bring up set point at 24-17. Slinde and Lynch teamed up for the stop on the next serve, putting the set away for WVU, who grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match.
Evans had an impressive six kills in the fourth set alone, as WVU hit .349 in the 25-19 win. The two teams battled, but the Mountaineers used a pair of scoring streaks to gain the upper-hand at 18-11. The Wildcats fought their way back though, scoring four of five down the stretch to come within four at 20-16. Consecutive kills from Jordan put WVU up 22-16, as Zerwas sneaked another one past the K-State defenders for the 23-17 lead. Evans later scored two more kills to cap the set, as West Virginia captured the 3-1 match victory.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will return to the Lone Star State on Sunday, Nov. 3, for a nationally televised matchup against No. 1 Texas, at Gregory Gymnasium, in Austin, Texas. First serve is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
KSU
WVU
Kills
51
63
Errors
26
15
Attempts
165
153
Hitting %
.152
.314
Points
58.0
76.0
Assists
49
57
Aces
4
4
Blocks
3.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballMB/OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballS/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballVB: BYU Cinematic Recap
Saturday, October 04
2025 Volleyball Coal Rush Uniform Reveal
Thursday, October 02
Jen Greeny | Sept. 23 | ESPN+ Halftime Interview
Tuesday, September 30
VB: Dolphin Volleyball Classic Cinematic Recap
Sunday, September 21
