Saturday, November 16
Morgantown, W.Va.
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
11-15, 2-11
2
vs
3
Texas Tech
15-12, 5-8
1
2
3
4
5
F
Texas Tech
16
26
25
23
15
3
West Virginia
25
24
19
25
13
2
Photo by: Parker Sheppard
WVU Drops Five-Set Thriller in Morgantown
November 16, 2019 05:28 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite producing one of its best offensive matches of the season, the West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a 3-2 match to Texas Tech, inside the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown. The Mountaineers (11-15, 2-11) fell to the Red Raiders (15-12, 5-8) in set scores of 16-25, 26-24, 25-19, 23-25 and 15-13.
"We had chances down the stretch, and we didn't capitalize on them," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "In sports, you don't look at the last couple plays that make or break your wins and losses. I thought we had a lot of chances in between, but we didn't do a good job on taking advantage of those opportunities."
A trio of Mountaineers posted double-digit kills on the day, as West Virginia recorded a season-high 69 kills to hit .304 in the five-set loss. Additionally, five Mountaineers contributed to the team's seven service aces listed on the scoresheet, matching its season-best mark for the third time in 2019.
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch had herself a career day, registering 18 kills with just two errors on 34 attacks for a .471 hitting efficiency. Senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans also added 18 kills, followed by classmate right-side hitter Erin Slinde with 13. Of note, Slinde posted a team-high .522 hitting percentage in the match.
Sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas dished out a career-high 62 assists to go along with eight digs, five kills and a trio of service aces.
Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting led WVU's floor defense with 22 digs, while junior middle blocker Katie DeMeo led the team's blocking efforts with four block assists.
The Mountaineers posted 65 digs and eight team blocks in the loss. The Red Raiders hit .276 in the win and had 70 kills, 60 digs and six team blocks. Emily Hill led TTU's offense with 22 kills, while Emerson Solano had a team-high 22 digs.
West Virginia rolled to a 25-16 win in the first set, hitting .484 with 17 kills. A swing from Slinde jump started a 5-2 run for the Mountaineers, increasing WVU's lead to six at 18-12. The Red Raiders called their final timeout, scoring three of the next four points to cut their deficit to four at 19-15. West Virginia remained even keel though, as Zerwas served up an ace, followed by consecutive kills from DeMeo for the 23-15 lead. Another ace from Zerwas put WVU at set point, as Evans came up with a huge swing to win the set, giving the Mountaineers the 1-0 match lead.
After playing to 17 ties and eight lead changes throughout the course of the set, Texas Tech used four consecutive points to close out the second stanza with a 26-24 win, tying the overall match score at one set apiece.
The Raiders eventually took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-19 victory in the third. However, the Mountaineers bounced back with a 25-23 win in the fourth to force a fifth.
West Virginia used kills from Evans and Lynch for the 8-6 lead at the switch. Though the Red Raiders went on a 4-1 scoring run to take a one-point lead at 10-9, forcing coach Sunahara to call his first timeout of the frame. Texas Tech's next serve went into the net, as both teams continued to exchange points down the stretch. With WVU holding a 12-11 lead, TTU's Brooke Kanas put down a kill to jump start another Red Raiders' scoring streak that put them on top for good. Slinde placed one through the pins to keep the Mountaineers' hopes alive, but Texas Tech answered with a kill of its own to end the set in its favor at 15-13, walking away with the 3-2 match victory.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will close its road slate with a contest at Oklahoma on Friday, Nov. 22. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET, at McCasland Field House, in Norman, Oklahoma.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
"We had chances down the stretch, and we didn't capitalize on them," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "In sports, you don't look at the last couple plays that make or break your wins and losses. I thought we had a lot of chances in between, but we didn't do a good job on taking advantage of those opportunities."
A trio of Mountaineers posted double-digit kills on the day, as West Virginia recorded a season-high 69 kills to hit .304 in the five-set loss. Additionally, five Mountaineers contributed to the team's seven service aces listed on the scoresheet, matching its season-best mark for the third time in 2019.
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch had herself a career day, registering 18 kills with just two errors on 34 attacks for a .471 hitting efficiency. Senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans also added 18 kills, followed by classmate right-side hitter Erin Slinde with 13. Of note, Slinde posted a team-high .522 hitting percentage in the match.
Sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas dished out a career-high 62 assists to go along with eight digs, five kills and a trio of service aces.
Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting led WVU's floor defense with 22 digs, while junior middle blocker Katie DeMeo led the team's blocking efforts with four block assists.
The Mountaineers posted 65 digs and eight team blocks in the loss. The Red Raiders hit .276 in the win and had 70 kills, 60 digs and six team blocks. Emily Hill led TTU's offense with 22 kills, while Emerson Solano had a team-high 22 digs.
West Virginia rolled to a 25-16 win in the first set, hitting .484 with 17 kills. A swing from Slinde jump started a 5-2 run for the Mountaineers, increasing WVU's lead to six at 18-12. The Red Raiders called their final timeout, scoring three of the next four points to cut their deficit to four at 19-15. West Virginia remained even keel though, as Zerwas served up an ace, followed by consecutive kills from DeMeo for the 23-15 lead. Another ace from Zerwas put WVU at set point, as Evans came up with a huge swing to win the set, giving the Mountaineers the 1-0 match lead.
After playing to 17 ties and eight lead changes throughout the course of the set, Texas Tech used four consecutive points to close out the second stanza with a 26-24 win, tying the overall match score at one set apiece.
The Raiders eventually took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-19 victory in the third. However, the Mountaineers bounced back with a 25-23 win in the fourth to force a fifth.
West Virginia used kills from Evans and Lynch for the 8-6 lead at the switch. Though the Red Raiders went on a 4-1 scoring run to take a one-point lead at 10-9, forcing coach Sunahara to call his first timeout of the frame. Texas Tech's next serve went into the net, as both teams continued to exchange points down the stretch. With WVU holding a 12-11 lead, TTU's Brooke Kanas put down a kill to jump start another Red Raiders' scoring streak that put them on top for good. Slinde placed one through the pins to keep the Mountaineers' hopes alive, but Texas Tech answered with a kill of its own to end the set in its favor at 15-13, walking away with the 3-2 match victory.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will close its road slate with a contest at Oklahoma on Friday, Nov. 22. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET, at McCasland Field House, in Norman, Oklahoma.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
TTU
WVU
Kills
70
69
Errors
22
20
Attempts
174
161
Hitting %
.276
.304
Points
84.0
84.0
Assists
69
69
Aces
8
7
Blocks
6.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballS/RS
/ Volleyball
S
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