MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After scoring the game-winning goal in the Mountaineers' 4-0, season-opening victory over Buffalo on August 19, junior defender Julianne Vallerand of the West Virginia University women's soccer team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
 
The Terrebonne, Quebec, native scored WVU's first goal of the season in the 25th minute, taking a cheeky cross from freshman forward Dilary Heredia-Beltran and tapping it in for the score. Vallerand's early goal was credited as the game winner, marking the third of her career. With her goal against the Bulls, Vallerand's career total now moves to nine goals all-time for West Virginia.
 
Three other Mountaineers also scored in West Virginia's season debut, including redshirt senior forward Lauren Segalla, junior midfielder Maya McCutcheon and freshman forward Rhea Kijowski. The match against Buffalo marked the start of West Virginia's 26th season of competition. Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, the program's only head coach, has led the squad to a 363-123-56 all-time mark.
 
This Week in Volleyball: West Virginia opens the 2021 season on the road, as the team travels Norfolk, Virginia, for a two-day tournament at Old Dominion, from Aug. 27-28 ... West Virginia will face Loyola in a 10 a.m. ET, matchup on Friday, Aug. 27, followed by a 7 p.m., contest against host Old Dominion on Friday, at ODU Volleyball Center on Old Dominion's campus …. the Mountaineers conclude the tournament on Saturday, Aug. 28, with a 1 p.m., match against Hampton … of note, the Mountaineers match against Old Dominion will be streamed live on conferenceusa.com.
 
Last Season in Volleyball: In 2020-21, West Virginia earned 10 wins, including a program-best 8-8 mark to finish fourth overall in the Big 12, its highest league finish in Reed Sunahara's six-year tenure ... the squad's fall schedule was altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and programs played in a double round-robin format of 16 matches in eight double-headers … WVU upset No. 10 Kansas in back-to-back matches on Oct. 9-10, in Lawrence, Kansas ... with the wins, the Mountaineers earned a season sweep over the Jayhawks for the first time in program history ... the Mountaineers returned to action in the spring, leading up to the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament ...  WVU also earned its first-ever national ranking in 2020-21, checking in to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Poll three times and climbing as high as No. 13 – also a program best … at season end, Briana Lynch and Lacey Zerwas earned a pair of Big 12 postseason awards ... Lynch made her first career appearance on the All-Conference First team after earning second-team recognition a year ago, while Zerwas landed on the second team to collect her first career All-Big 12 honor ... Lynch also was awarded a spot on the All-Midwest Region First Team by the AVCA ... the honor marked the first of her career, as she became the first Mountaineer since 2016 to collect first-team recognition ... for the fifth straight year, WVU was named a recipient of the AVCA Team Academic Award ... nine Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2020-21 Academic All-Big 12 Volleyball Teams ... Zerwas was a recipient of the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12 Conference's highest academic honor and the Fred Schaus Captain Award.
 
Notes: The Mountaineers begin their 47th season of volleyball ... Coach Sunahara begins his seventh season as West Virginia's head coach … WVU ended the 2020-21 season with a .165 hitting percentage, averaging 12.2 kills per set ... defensively, the Mountaineers averaged 14.6 digs per set and 1.9 blocks per set ... the squad is set to host the Mountaineer Invitational, along with four double-round robin Big 12 matches this season ... the team returns with 12 letterwinners and adds six newcomers.

Week in Men's Soccer: The Mountaineers open the 2021 season by traveling to Robert Morris on Thursday, Aug. 26, in Moon Township, Pennsylvania … kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET.
 
Last Season in Men's Soccer: West Virginia finished 6-3-1 in a spring-only campaign in 2020-21 … the squad also showed a 4-3-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play … five players earned All-MAC recognition, including midfielder Luke McCormick, forward Ike Swiger and goalkeeper Steven Tekesky, who earned first-team honors, and midfielder Pau Jimenez Albelda and defender Kevin Morris, who were tabbed to the second team … WVU topped eventual National Champion Marshall, 1-0, at home on March 24, marking coach Dan Stratford's first top-10 win at the helm in Morgantown … Swiger led the club with four goals on the year, while Tekesky registered six clean sheets … following the season, Morris was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, the first Mountaineer to reach the team since Jack Elliott in 2016.
 
Notes: WVU begins its 61st season of men's soccer on Thursday … the Mountaineers are 13-6 all-time against Robert Morris … the two squads haven't played since the 2005 NCAA Tournament, a 1-0 WVU victory … West Virginia is set to play 10 home matches at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium this fall … the club will play five teams who qualified for the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament this fall, including two College Cup participants … the Mountaineers return all seven goal scorers from last year's team … in all, WVU is set to return 10 of 11 starters and 15 total lettermen … fifth-year seniors Jimenez Albelda, Morris and Tekesky will serve as co-captains this season … nine newcomers also join the program this fall, including seven international players … West Virginia will be represented by 10 total countries in 2021 … this season marks the 10th and final campaign for the Mountaineers in the MAC … the program is set to join Conference USA in men's soccer in 2022.
 
This Week in Women's Soccer: The Mountaineers are set for their first road trip of the season, as they travel to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Aug. 27, to face Bucknell … kickoff from Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium is tabbed for 7 p.m. ET … West Virginia then returns to Morgantown on Sunday, Aug. 29, to host Duquesne at 5 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
Last Week in Women's Soccer: West Virginia opened its 2021 campaign last week, going 1-1 in a pair of home matches in Morgantown … first, WVU opened the season with a 4-0 win over Buffalo on Aug. 19, with four different Mountaineers finding the back of the net in the match, including a pair of newcomers … junior defender Julianne Vallerand, redshirt senior forward Lauren Segalla, junior midfielder Maya McCutcheon and freshman forward Rhea Kijowski added a goal apiece, while Vallerand was credited with the game winner … the Mountaineer defense held Buffalo to just six shots (2 SOG) in the contest, while goalkeepers Maddie Murphy and Kayza Massey tallied a save apiece for WVU … on August 22, West Virginia welcomed No. 4 Virginia to town, falling to the Cavaliers by a final score of 1-0 … despite a nearly identical final box score, the Mountaineers were unable to overcome UVA's early goal in the seventh minute … Massey showed off her talent late in the second half, recording a pair of key saves to help the WVU defense limit UVA's opportunities, but West Virginia couldn't find the equalizer on the offensive side of the pitch … the final box score showed a very even contest, with Virginia narrowly edging WVU in shots (4-3), shots on goal (3-2) and corner kicks (6-5).
 
Notes: The West Virginia defense opened the year with a clean sheet against Buffalo, doing so in the season opener for the third straight campaign … six newcomers recorded their first game action in a Mountaineer uniform on Aug. 19, including McCutcheon, Heredia-Beltran, Kijowski, freshman forward/midfielder Leah Sparacio, freshman defender Annika Leslie and freshman midfielder Brooke Brown … the match against the Bulls also marked the start of West Virginia's 26th season of competition … coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, the program's only head coach, has led the Mountaineers to an all-time mark of 363-123-56 … Vallerand's game-winning goal against UB was the third of her career, while she also notched her ninth career goal … Segalla's 31st-minute goal was the 11th of her Mountaineer career, while McCutcheon and Kijowski earned their first career goals in Gold and Blue … with only one previous meeting, West Virginia is 1-0 all-time against Bucknell, while the squad holds a 9-0-2 all-time advantage over Duquesne.