MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following his game-winning goal at No. 6 Tulsa in the NCAA Third Round, freshman midfielder Otto Ollikainen of the West Virginia University men's soccer team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
 
Ollikainen scored in the 102nd minute against the Golden Hurricane on Nov. 27, helping the Mountaineers earn a 1-0, double-overtime victory and advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 1981. The golden goal marked the Helsinki, Finland, native's first career tally.
 
Next up, the No. 11-seeded Mountaineers take on No. 3 Georgetown in the round of 8 on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Washington D.C., with a trip to the Men's Soccer Cup on the line.
 
This Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers (19-9, 8-8 Big 12) open play at the NCAA Tournament in a first-round matchup against Illinois, on Friday, Dec. 3, at 5:00 p.m. ET, in Lexington, Kentucky, at Memorial Coliseum.
 
Last Week in Volleyball: West Virginia closed out its 2021 fall slate sweeping TCU in a pair of matches, in Fort Worth, Texas, at Schollmaier Arena, from Nov. 26-27 … on Friday evening the Mountaineers took the match from the Horned Frogs in set scores of 25-10, 25-23 and 25-20 … WVU was led by fifth-year outside hitter Adrian Ell who recorded a double-double with a match-high 11 kills and 10 digs … additionally, three Mountaineers tallied double-digit scores, including senior setter Lacey Zerwas, who recorded 32 assists … fifth-year senior libero Alexa Hasting recorded 17 digs, and fifth-year senior middle blocker Briana Lynch tallied 10 kills … West Virginia finished the match hitting .308, with 40 kills and six team blocks … on Saturday, the squad took the match from the Horned Frogs in set scores of 25-21, 25-18, 16-25 and 25-19 … WVU was led by Ell who recorded her 11th double-double of the season and second on the weekend … Ell recorded a match-high 20 kills, along with 10 digs … additionally, five Mountaineers tallied double-digit scores, including Zerwas, who recorded 41 assists … senior outside hitter Natali Petrova tallied 18 digs to tie her season bet, while Hasting recorded 15 digs … sophomore outside hitter Skye Stokes also recorded 11 digs … with 12 kills, fifth-year senior middle blocker Briana Lynch rounded out West Virginia's double-digit scores … overall, the squad finished the match hitting .245, with 58 kills and six team blocks.
 
Notes: The Mountaineers see post season action for the first time in program history … WVU enters the tournament with a 19-9 mark this fall, good for a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference … the squad went 8-8 in Big 12 play … of note, West Virginia is one of seven Big 12 schools to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, marking the second most schools for a conference at the NCAA Tournament … the Mountaineers' hard work this season paid off … opening the season 10-0 for the first time since 2017, West Virginia swept No. 23 Michigan in a match on Sept. 3 … the team went on to tally its first win at Iowa State, as well as a season sweep over Oklahoma for the first time in school history … of the 64 teams, 32 teams received automatic qualification, while the remaining 32 teams were selected on an at-large basis by the Division I Women's Volleyball Committee … the first and second rounds will be Dec. 2-4 in a single-elimination first round competition … the teams that win in round one will play each other in round two on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. … regionals will take place from Dec. 9-11 … the championship will be held in Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio … nine Mountaineers were named to the 2021-22 Academic All-Big 12 Volleyball Team, including Zerwas, Hasting, senior Kristin Lux, redshirt junior Marielena Somoza, junior Emmy Oogogor and redshirt senior Alison Thomas were named to the first team … additionally, Lynch,  junior Natalie Winter and Petrova were named to the second team … three athletes were named to the 2021 Academic All-District 2 Volleyball First Team, including Ell, Hasting and Zerwas. 
 
This Week in Men's Soccer: The No. 11-seeded Mountaineers travel to No. 3 Georgetown for the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Washington D.C. … kickoff at Shaw Field is set for 12 p.m. ET.
 
Last Week in Men's Soccer: West Virginia (12-3-5) earned a 1-0, double-overtime win at No. 6 Tulsa on Nov. 27, in the NCAA Third Round at Hurricane Soccer Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma … freshman midfielder Otto Ollikainen scored the game-winning goal in the 102nd minute to help WVU advance to the round of 8 … fifth-year senior defender Kevin Morris and sophomore midfielder Ryan Crooks were credited with assists on the golden goal … WVU outshot the Golden Hurricane, 10-8, including 7-2 in shots on goal … the Mountaineers also had a 6-4 edge in corner kicks … fifth-year senior goalkeeper Steven Tekesky made two saves in the contest, earning his 45th career victory.
 
Notes: WVU is in the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 1981, and the first time in program history in the current NCAA Tournament model … the winner of Saturday's fixture heads to the Men's College Cup, which is set for Dec. 10-12, in Cary, North Carolina … the Mountaineers are looking for their first-ever trip to men's soccer's final four … with the win over Tulsa, West Virginia improved to 8-14-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … Tekesky tied the program record in career starts by a goalkeeper (80) and career wins (45) on Saturday … he also made his 82nd career appearance for the Gold and Blue, which stands alone as No. 1 in the WVU record book … additionally, Morris took over the top spot in overall career matches started (82) during the Tulsa match … Ollikainen's goal was the first of his career … the Helsinki, Finland, native became WVU's 14th different goal scorer this season … the Mountaineers are 6-14 all-time against Georgetown … the Hoyas defeated WVU, 1-0, in the 2018 NCAA Tournament Second Round … second-year coach Dan Stratford is now 12-1-1 in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach, with the first 12 games coming at Charleston (W.Va.).

This Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia travels to Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday, Dec. 1, to square off against Kentucky in the 2021 Big 12/SEC Challenge … tipoff from Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET … Wednesday's contest against the Wildcats will be broadcast on the SEC Network on ESPN+.
 
Last Week in Women's Basketball: WVU split a pair of neutral-site contests at the 2021 St. Pete Showcase from Nov. 25-27, at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida … the Mountaineers opened tournament action with a 65-57 win over Purdue on Nov. 25, before falling to BYU, 58-57, in the championship game on Nov. 27 … junior guard KK Deans tallied double figures in both games and averaged 14.5 points per game during the two contests … the Greensboro, North Carolina, native also averaged 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game last week and was named to the 2021 St. Pete Showcase All-Tournament Team … additionally, fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray posted a strong showing in last week's tournament, averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 50% from the field.
 
Notes: West Virginia is now 31-10 against its nonconference opponents this season and has won its last 15 of its last 16 regular-season games against the nonconference … the Mountaineers currently rank No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference in field-goal percentage (47.5), scoring defense (47.4), steals (68), steals per game (13.6) and turnovers forced per game (27.4) … junior forward Esmery Martinez is shooting a team-best 64.4% from the floor this season, good for No. 1 in the league and No. 11 nationally … WVU's bench has scored at least 30 points in four of five games this season, including a season-best 43 points against Radford … the Mountaineers have held each of its opponents to under 60 points this season, including 50 points or less in two games … additionally, West Virginia has held the opposition to 34.5% or worse from the floor in three games this season, including 20% or worse from 3-point range in two games.
 
This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia travels to Athens, Ohio, for a dual match with Ohio University on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m. ET … the nonconference matchup will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats can be found on Trackwrestling.
 
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers were off last week.
 
Notes: Sophomore Peyton Hall ranks No. 11 at 165 pounds by FloWrestling … the Chester, West Virginia, native moved up three spots after knocking off his first ranked opponent of the season, No. 11 Thomas Bullard of NC State … he heads into this week's dual undefeated (8-0) … redshirt sophomore Michael Wolfgram is now slotted at No. 27 of FloWrestling's heavyweight rankings … he claimed his second victory over a ranked opponent against No. 20 Owen Trephan (NC State) … WVU placed second at the Clarion Open on Sunday, Nov. 7 … West Virginia returns eight starters from its young squad a season ago and will begin the 2021-22 season with four Mountaineers ranked nationally, including All-American Killian Cardinale at 125 pounds … the redshirt senior ranks as high as No. 5 in the FloWrestling rankings, while securing eighth by InterMat … Cardinale placed seventh at the 2021 NCAA Championships to earn WVU's first All-America honors since Zeke Moisey (2018) in the same weight class … the Bristow, Virginia native was also one of three Mountaineers to land on the NWCA Scholar All-America Team alongside Hall … as a freshman, Hall qualified for the NCAA Championship at 165 pounds … after receiving seven votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll to conclude the 2021 season, West Virginia appears in the top 40 of two publications … FloWrestling currently ranks the Mountaineers in a tie for 28th with Central Michigan after being ranked 37th to enter the season, while WIN Magazine put them at 40th.