Sunday, November 3
Austin, Texas
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Texas
Photo by: Katie MacCrory
WVU Takes on No. 1 Texas
November 02, 2019 06:12 PM | Volleyball
AUSTIN, Texas – The West Virginia University volleyball team heads to Texas for the last time in 2019, as the Mountaineers take on the No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns on Sunday, Nov. 3, in a 1 p.m. ET league tilt, inside Gregory Gymnasium, in Austin, Texas.
ESPNU will televise Sunday's match, and live stats will be provided through SideArm.
"Texas is one of the best teams in the nation every year, and I thought they should have been the No. 1 team when we played them earlier this year," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "It's going to be a good challenge for us. We need to be on top of our game and execute well. We need to play similar to Wednesday night's match, which was probably one of our best offensive performances of the year thus far. We need to limit our mistakes and stay consistent against a very talented team."
The Mountaineers (11-11, 2-7) and the Longhorns (15-2, 9-0) first met in August of 2012, as Sunday marks the second match of the season between the two teams. WVU and UT last met on Oct. 19, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown, as the Mountaineers fell to the Longhorns in set scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 26-24.
Senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans paved the way for WVU, notching a team-high 14 kills in the loss. Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch was not far behind her with nine, hitting a team-best .400. Lynch also led WVU's blocking efforts with two solo stops and a pair of block assists. The Mountaineers finished the contest with 36 kills, hitting .118, and seven team blocks.
West Virginia most recently topped Kansas State in four sets on Oct. 30, in Morgantown. The Mountaineers downed the Wildcats in set scores of 26-28, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-19. Behind 19 kills from Evans, the Mountaineers hit .314 with 63 kills on 153 swings in the win. The Palmdale, California, native has now posted double-digit kills in her last 10 matches.
Through 22 matches, WVU is hitting .207 and averaging 12.7 kills per set and 14.4 digs per set. Lynch owns a team-high hitting percentage of .312 to rank fifth in the league, while Evans paces WVU with 3.26 kills per set to rank sixth. Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting, who eclipsed her 1,000th career dig at Baylor on Oct. 26, sits in second with 4.10 digs per set.
Texas sits at 15-2 on the season, with its only losses coming against Stanford and Rice. The Longhorns most recently topped Texas Tech in three sets on Oct. 30, at United Supermarkets Arena, in Lubbock, Texas. Of note, UT has not dropped a set since Sept. 25, when it defeated Big 12 foe Iowa State in four at Gregory Gymnasium, in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns lead the nation in hitting percentage, hitting .334 on the season. Senior outside hitter Micaya White paces Texas' offense with 3.86 kills per set and has five double-doubles on the year. Defensively, freshman middle blocker Asjia O'Neal leads the team's blocking efforts with 1.02 blocks per set and is eighth in the Big 12. Sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Petersen also anchors the floor defense, averaging 3.78 digs per set to rank fifth.
Of note, West Virginia holds a 3-6 mark on the road this season, capturing victories at Delaware (Aug. 31), Kansas State (Oct. 12) and Morehead State (Oct. 15). With the win at K-State, WVU claimed their first Big 12 road win since upsetting then-No. 14 Kansas on Nov. 25, 2017. West Virginia is 0-7 at Gregory Gymnasium and has a 5-29 record in the state of Texas all-time.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will continue its road swing by traveling to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, for their second meeting of the season with the Iowa State Cyclones. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at the Hilton Coliseum.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
ESPNU will televise Sunday's match, and live stats will be provided through SideArm.
"Texas is one of the best teams in the nation every year, and I thought they should have been the No. 1 team when we played them earlier this year," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "It's going to be a good challenge for us. We need to be on top of our game and execute well. We need to play similar to Wednesday night's match, which was probably one of our best offensive performances of the year thus far. We need to limit our mistakes and stay consistent against a very talented team."
The Mountaineers (11-11, 2-7) and the Longhorns (15-2, 9-0) first met in August of 2012, as Sunday marks the second match of the season between the two teams. WVU and UT last met on Oct. 19, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown, as the Mountaineers fell to the Longhorns in set scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 26-24.
Senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans paved the way for WVU, notching a team-high 14 kills in the loss. Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch was not far behind her with nine, hitting a team-best .400. Lynch also led WVU's blocking efforts with two solo stops and a pair of block assists. The Mountaineers finished the contest with 36 kills, hitting .118, and seven team blocks.
West Virginia most recently topped Kansas State in four sets on Oct. 30, in Morgantown. The Mountaineers downed the Wildcats in set scores of 26-28, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-19. Behind 19 kills from Evans, the Mountaineers hit .314 with 63 kills on 153 swings in the win. The Palmdale, California, native has now posted double-digit kills in her last 10 matches.
Through 22 matches, WVU is hitting .207 and averaging 12.7 kills per set and 14.4 digs per set. Lynch owns a team-high hitting percentage of .312 to rank fifth in the league, while Evans paces WVU with 3.26 kills per set to rank sixth. Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting, who eclipsed her 1,000th career dig at Baylor on Oct. 26, sits in second with 4.10 digs per set.
Texas sits at 15-2 on the season, with its only losses coming against Stanford and Rice. The Longhorns most recently topped Texas Tech in three sets on Oct. 30, at United Supermarkets Arena, in Lubbock, Texas. Of note, UT has not dropped a set since Sept. 25, when it defeated Big 12 foe Iowa State in four at Gregory Gymnasium, in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns lead the nation in hitting percentage, hitting .334 on the season. Senior outside hitter Micaya White paces Texas' offense with 3.86 kills per set and has five double-doubles on the year. Defensively, freshman middle blocker Asjia O'Neal leads the team's blocking efforts with 1.02 blocks per set and is eighth in the Big 12. Sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Petersen also anchors the floor defense, averaging 3.78 digs per set to rank fifth.
Of note, West Virginia holds a 3-6 mark on the road this season, capturing victories at Delaware (Aug. 31), Kansas State (Oct. 12) and Morehead State (Oct. 15). With the win at K-State, WVU claimed their first Big 12 road win since upsetting then-No. 14 Kansas on Nov. 25, 2017. West Virginia is 0-7 at Gregory Gymnasium and has a 5-29 record in the state of Texas all-time.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will continue its road swing by traveling to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, for their second meeting of the season with the Iowa State Cyclones. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at the Hilton Coliseum.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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