Saturday, September 21
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
8-4
3
vs
2
Navy
5-6
1
2
3
4
5
F
NAVY
20
27
21
25
8
2
West Virginia
25
25
25
18
15
3
Photo by: Hunter Tankersley / WVU Photograph
Mountaineers Victorious in Evening Tilt
September 22, 2019 12:01 AM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas was named the MVP of the 2019 Mountaineer Invitational, as she led the West Virginia University volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over Navy for the Mountaineers' fourth straight win on Saturday evening, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown. WVU moved to 8-4 on the year and took the match in set scores of 25-20, 25-27, 25-21, 18-25 and 15-8.
WVU went 3-0 on the weekend to win the tournament. Zerwas, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, assisted on 119 of the team's 150 kills throughout the weekend to average 10.82 per set. She also notched 24 digs in 11 sets to average 2.18 per set and posted a trio of service aces. Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting averaged 4.09 digs per set, totaling 45 digs in a trio of matches, as she joined Zerwas on the all-tournament team. Hasting also served up four aces and dished out 12 assists on the weekend.
"Lacey is Lacey," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "She's the leader of this group. She is the quarterback, and I thought she did a nice job tonight, and more importantly, over the weekend. Lex (junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting) has been playing well throughout the whole preseason, and that's what we expect from her."
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch led the Mountaineers with 14 kills, hitting .414 across five sets. Sophomores Kristin Lux and Kristina Jordan each added 13 kills apiece, while senior right-side hitter Erin Slinde rounded out the Mountaineers in double-figures with 11. Of note, Slinde hit above .600 for the second consecutive match, posting a team-high .611 hitting percentage on the evening.
Hasting led WVU's floor defense with a season-high 22 digs, while Lux had 14 digs for her second double-double. Zerwas dished out 55 assists to match her career high previously set at San Diego State on Sept. 6, 2019. She also added 11 digs in the match, notching her third double-double on the year.
Lynch posted a team-high four block assists, followed by Jordan with three. Jordan also added a trio of service aces to the scoresheet, while Zerwas added one.
West Virginia hit .247 with 66 kills, 75 digs and six team blocks in the match. Navy hit .148 with 53 kills and 12 team blocks, as Amanda Montag led the Midshipmen with 22 kills.
"Tonight, was huge," Sunahara said. "The whole weekend was huge for us. I thought we got better as the tournament went on, and I told the team after the match that we have more opportunities to get better moving forward. Playing in the fifth against a good, well-coached Navy team helped us, and hopefully, that can carry into what we do on Wednesday."
West Virginia rattled off three straight points midway through the first set to take an 18-14 advantage before Navy called a timeout. Both teams traded points out of the stoppage, but back-to-back service aces from Jordan brought the Mountaineers to set point at 24-19. Navy's Montag put one through the pins to extend the set, but its next serve went long, as WVU claimed the set, 25-20, and the 1-0 match lead.
The Mountaineers dropped the second set, 27-25, but rebounded in the third to tie the match at one set apiece. Tied at 17-17, West Virginia used a kill from Slinde and an error from Navy to take a two-point lead late in the frame. Back-to-back kills from Jordan increased the Mountaineers' lead to four at 22-18, forcing the Midshipmen to call a timeout. Navy scored three of the next four points out of the break, but Lynch found the gap, as WVU reached set point at 24-21. An attacking error by Navy put the set away on the next serve, 25-21, and gave WVU the 2-1 match lead.
West Virginia trailed Navy 23-10 in the fourth set. The Mountaineers' managed to score eight of the next nine points to cut their deficit to six at 24-18, but WVU couldn't recover. Montag put down another kill for the 25-18 win, forcing a fifth set for the Mountaineers.
A trio of kills from senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans helped West Virginia take an early 7-3 lead in the fifth. Navy hung around though, racking up three straight points to cut its deficit to one at 7-6. West Virginia called a timeout to reset, scoring five in a row out of the break for the six-point lead. A WVU service error kept Navy's hopes alive, down 12-7, but the Mountaineers scored three of the last four points to win the set, 15-8, walking away with the 3-2 victory.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will kick off its Big 12 season against Texas Tech on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in Lubbock, Texas. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
WVU went 3-0 on the weekend to win the tournament. Zerwas, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, assisted on 119 of the team's 150 kills throughout the weekend to average 10.82 per set. She also notched 24 digs in 11 sets to average 2.18 per set and posted a trio of service aces. Junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting averaged 4.09 digs per set, totaling 45 digs in a trio of matches, as she joined Zerwas on the all-tournament team. Hasting also served up four aces and dished out 12 assists on the weekend.
"Lacey is Lacey," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "She's the leader of this group. She is the quarterback, and I thought she did a nice job tonight, and more importantly, over the weekend. Lex (junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting) has been playing well throughout the whole preseason, and that's what we expect from her."
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch led the Mountaineers with 14 kills, hitting .414 across five sets. Sophomores Kristin Lux and Kristina Jordan each added 13 kills apiece, while senior right-side hitter Erin Slinde rounded out the Mountaineers in double-figures with 11. Of note, Slinde hit above .600 for the second consecutive match, posting a team-high .611 hitting percentage on the evening.
Hasting led WVU's floor defense with a season-high 22 digs, while Lux had 14 digs for her second double-double. Zerwas dished out 55 assists to match her career high previously set at San Diego State on Sept. 6, 2019. She also added 11 digs in the match, notching her third double-double on the year.
Lynch posted a team-high four block assists, followed by Jordan with three. Jordan also added a trio of service aces to the scoresheet, while Zerwas added one.
West Virginia hit .247 with 66 kills, 75 digs and six team blocks in the match. Navy hit .148 with 53 kills and 12 team blocks, as Amanda Montag led the Midshipmen with 22 kills.
"Tonight, was huge," Sunahara said. "The whole weekend was huge for us. I thought we got better as the tournament went on, and I told the team after the match that we have more opportunities to get better moving forward. Playing in the fifth against a good, well-coached Navy team helped us, and hopefully, that can carry into what we do on Wednesday."
West Virginia rattled off three straight points midway through the first set to take an 18-14 advantage before Navy called a timeout. Both teams traded points out of the stoppage, but back-to-back service aces from Jordan brought the Mountaineers to set point at 24-19. Navy's Montag put one through the pins to extend the set, but its next serve went long, as WVU claimed the set, 25-20, and the 1-0 match lead.
The Mountaineers dropped the second set, 27-25, but rebounded in the third to tie the match at one set apiece. Tied at 17-17, West Virginia used a kill from Slinde and an error from Navy to take a two-point lead late in the frame. Back-to-back kills from Jordan increased the Mountaineers' lead to four at 22-18, forcing the Midshipmen to call a timeout. Navy scored three of the next four points out of the break, but Lynch found the gap, as WVU reached set point at 24-21. An attacking error by Navy put the set away on the next serve, 25-21, and gave WVU the 2-1 match lead.
West Virginia trailed Navy 23-10 in the fourth set. The Mountaineers' managed to score eight of the next nine points to cut their deficit to six at 24-18, but WVU couldn't recover. Montag put down another kill for the 25-18 win, forcing a fifth set for the Mountaineers.
A trio of kills from senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans helped West Virginia take an early 7-3 lead in the fifth. Navy hung around though, racking up three straight points to cut its deficit to one at 7-6. West Virginia called a timeout to reset, scoring five in a row out of the break for the six-point lead. A WVU service error kept Navy's hopes alive, down 12-7, but the Mountaineers scored three of the last four points to win the set, 15-8, walking away with the 3-2 victory.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will kick off its Big 12 season against Texas Tech on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in Lubbock, Texas. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
NAVY
WVU
Kills
53
66
Errors
28
26
Attempts
169
162
Hitting %
.148
.247
Points
74.0
76.0
Assists
49
63
Aces
9
4
Blocks
12.0
6.0
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballMB/OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballS/RS
/ Volleyball
S
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