Heredia-Beltran Named Student-Athlete of the Week

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh

September 20, 2021 03:32 PM | General, Golf, Men's Soccer, Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball

By: Athletics Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After tallying a pair of assists in the Mountaineers' wins at James Madison and against Kent State last week, freshman forward Dilary Heredia-Beltran of the West Virginia University women's soccer team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

The Wichita, Kansas, native recorded an assist on the first goal of the match at the 1:20 mark at JMU, dishing the ball to junior forward/defender Julianne Vallerand for her long goal from 30 yards out. Heredia-Beltran then recorded her second assist of the week on redshirt senior forward Lauren Segalla's game-winning strike in the 61st minute against Kent State, feeding a well-placed ball into the 6-yard box for Segalla to head into the goal.

Heredia-Beltran now co-leads the Mountaineers in assists with three on the season, while she also sits tied for No. 8 in the Big 12 in total assists (3) and tied for No. 10 in the league in assists per game (0.33).

West Virginia opens Big 12 Conference play on Friday, Sept. 24, as the squad welcomes Iowa State to Morgantown for a 7 p.m. ET, matchup at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

This Week in Volleyball: West Virginia (10-1) will kick off its Big 12 season in Morgantown, with two matches against Oklahoma (6-5) on Sept. 24-25 ... Friday's match will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a match on Saturday at 5 p.m., at the WVU Coliseum.

Last Week in Volleyball: West Virginia hosted its annual tournament, the Mountaineer Invitational, on Sept. 16-17, at the WU Coliseum, in Morgantown, going 2-1 on the weekend …  WVU opened the tournament with a double header on Thursday, Sept. 16 … WVU beat George Washington in four sets in the first match, in set scores of 25-18, 25-18, 24-26 and 25-8 … following the win, West Virginia saw action in a match against UMBC ...  the Mountaineers swept the Retrievers in set scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-21 ... to close out the weekend, the Mountaineers suffered their first loss of the season to No. 20 Penn State and dropped the match, 3-0, in set scores of 22-25, 13-25 and 20-25 ... In the Mountaineers' first win of the weekend over George Washington, three Mountaineers recorded double-digit kills, including fifth-year senior middle blocker Briana Lynch with a season high of 17, along with redshirt senior setter Adrian Ell and senior outside hitter Kristin Lux, both with season highs of 16 … senior outside hitter Natali Petrova recorded a season-high 16 digs … she was followed by senior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting who recorded 11 digs, and sophomore outside hitter Skye Stokes who dug 10 balls … Zerwas also recorded 41 assists in the win … … for the first time since 2017, WVU won 10 straight matches to open the season ... on the weekend, Ell led WVU with 37 total kills, Zerwas followed with 93 assists, Petrova had 29 digs and freshman middle blocker Madison Page finished the weekend with a team-high 11 blocks.

Notes: WVU leads the Big 12 in kills with an average of 13.81 per set and ranks second in digs with 14.89 per set … individually, Lynch ranks first in hitting percentage with a .450 hitting efficiency and Zerwas ranks second with an average 10.47 assists per set … three Mountaineers rank in the top 5 in service aces … Stokes is averaging .54 service aces per set, and she is followed by Ell with .47 per set and Petrova with .46 per set … Lynch ranks fourth in total blocks per set with 1.39 and Hasting sits in third with an average of 4.25 digs per set … West Virginia last played Oklahoma on Nov. 20, 2020, beating the Sooners, 3-1 ... Oklahoma leads the series, 17-2.

This Week in Men's Soccer: The Mountaineers play a pair of home games at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … first, WVU welcomes Dayton to Morgantown on Tuesday, Sept. 21, before the squad takes on St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Sept. 25 … both contests are set to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Men's Soccer: No. 4-ranked West Virginia (4-0-2) played to a 2-2, double-overtime draw at No. 6 Marshall on Sept. 17, in Huntington … senior forward Yoran Popovic and sophomore forward Ciro Bourlot Jaeggi found the back of the net for the Mountaineers, but it wasn't enough to secure the road victory … the Thundering Herd held a 15-9 advantage in shots, including 6-5 in shots on goal … junior midfielder Luke McCormick earned the assist on Popovic's 17th-minute goal, while fifth-year senior midfielder Pau Jimenez Albelda and senior forward Tony Pineda were credited with Bourlot Jaeggi's tally in the 42nd minute … in goal, fifth-year senior goalkeeper Steven Tekesky made a season-high four saves in 110 minutes of action.

Notes: Following the draw, WVU is now 16-6-2 all-time against its in-state foe, including 6-4-1 on the road … the Mountaineers are now 2-0-1 against ranked opponents this fall … the trip to Huntington was WVU's first in the regular season since 2003 … Popovic's goal against Marshall was the first of his career … West Virginia is 2-1 all-time against Dayton and 9-1 in 10 overall meetings against St. Bonaventure … WVU last played the Flyers in 2019 … the Mountaineers haven't battled against the Bonnies since 1994 … West Virginia was placed at No. 4 in last week's United Soccer Coaches poll, good for the program's highest ranking by the organization since Oct. 31, 2006 … WVU also was No. 6 in last week's College Soccer News poll and No. 10 by TopDrawerSoccer.com … Bourlot Jaeggi paces the squad with a team-leading two goals on the year … eight others also have scored for WVU so far this season.

This Week in Women's Soccer: The Mountaineers open up Big 12 Conference play this week, hosting Iowa State on Friday, Sept. 24 … kickoff at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, is set for 7 p.m. ET … the match will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Last Week in Women's Soccer: West Virginia (6-2-1) earned a pair of victories to close its nonconference slate at James Madison and against Kent State last week … first, traveling to Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Sept. 16, WVU topped the Dukes, 2-1, at Sentara Park … West Virginia struck very quickly, as junior forward/defender Julianne Vallerand put WVU on the board just 1:20 into the match, tallying her fourth goal of the season … sophomore midfielder Lilly McCarthy replicated Vallerand's quick score in the second half, finding the back of the net just 1:21 into the second 45 minutes … McCarthy's speedy strike was credited as the game-winner, the first of her career … returning home to close its nonconference slate against Kent State on Sept. 19, the Mountaineers earned its second 2-1 win of the week to top the Golden Flashes … senior defender Jordan Brewster used a penalty-kick opportunity in the first half to put the Mountaineers on the board, but it was redshirt senior forward Lauren Segalla's 61st-minute strike that made the difference in the match … the West Virginia defense just missed the shutout after Kent State was able to convert a penalty kick in the final minute of the match.

Notes: McCarthy's speedy strike against James Madison was credited as the game-winner, the first of her career … Vallerand's first-half goal at the 1:20 mark against JMU was the eighth-fastest goal in program history and the earliest score for the Mountaineers since senior forward Alina Stahl scored at 2:01 in the first half against Bowling Green on Sept. 22, 2019 … Brewster's PK against KSU was her second of the season, while Segalla's score was the sixth game-winner of her career … WVU and Kent State met for the first time in program history last week, as West Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the series … freshman defender Ruby Darling recorded her first game action for the Mountaineers against the Golden Flashes … Heredia-Beltran now co-leads the Mountaineers in assists with three on the season … WVU ranks No. 3 in the Big 12 Conference in goals (19), goals per game (2.11) and points (55).

This Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers continue their season, as they travel to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Sept. 25, to compete at the LHU Invitational, at West Branch Cross Country Course ... the race will begin at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Last Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers were off last week.

Notes: WVU travels to four total meets this season ... 13 Mountaineers return from last season, while a total of six new faces join the team ... the team placed third at the 2021 Big 12 Cross Country Championship and were selected for the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships as a team for the first time since 2014 ... the Mountaineers finished 29th overall ...  the Mountaineers opened their 2021 season with race at Lehigh, on Friday, Sept. 3 ... the race marked WVU's sixth visit to Lehigh since 2009, having competed in the Paul Short Invitational and the Lehigh Invitational ... the team has competed in the Lehigh Invitational four times, including season-opening victories in 2014 and 2017 ... the Mountaineers last saw action at the Lehigh Invitational on Aug. 30, 2019, and finished in third place overall ... Sept. 25 marks West Virginia's third time competing at Lock Haven ... WVU won the annual event in both 2018 and 2019.

This Week in Golf: WVU is idle until the Mountaineer Invitational on Oct. 4-5 at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia.

Last Week in Golf: The golf team finished sixth out of 14 teams in its season opener at The Gopher Invitational, at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota … the Mountaineers were led by fifth-year senior Mark Goetz … the Greensburg, Pennsylvania, native shot 70-69-74=213 to finish even par, tying for 18th place … senior Kurtis Grant tied for 31st with rounds of 72-70-75=217 to finish 4-over-par … fifth-year senior Logan Perkins (70-77-72=219) and junior Trent Tipton (75-69-75=219) shot 6-over-par and tied for 35th … sophomore Jackson Davenport posted WVU's low round of the day with a 71 ... he finished with rounds of 73-81-71=225, tying for 50th at 12-over-par … the Mountaineers finished at 10-over-par for the 54-hole event ... WVU shot rounds of 285-285-292=862.

Quote: "It was a good opening week for us. Now, we turn our focus to hosting the Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye in a few weeks." – coach Sean Covich

This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers will begin the 2021-22 fall slate this weekend as they co-host Thunder in the Mountains, alongside Marshall University, in Charleston, W.Va. … the tournament takes place Friday, September 24 through Sunday September 26.

Last Season in Tennis: WVU was 3-6 in non-conference play and 0-6 in Big 12 matches… the Mountaineers were ranked No. 4 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Atlantic Region on March 18, 2021.

Notes: WVU coach Miha Lisac enters his eighth season with the Mountaineers… West Virginia will compete in four tournaments this fall … this marks the second time WVU has co-hosted Thunder in the Mountains since 2019… following Thunder in the Mountains, West Virginia will travel to Lynchburg, Virginia for the ITA Atlantic Regional Tournament ... this year's regional is hosted by Liberty University …  with only two returners, senior Anastaiia Bovolskaia and sophomore Momoko Nagato, the Mountaineers welcome six newcomers to the roster for the 2021-22 seaso