Ell Named Student-Athlete of the Week

Photo by: Megan Crain

September 27, 2021 04:20 PM | General, Golf, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Volleyball

Varsity Sports Report

By: Athletics Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After recording a pair of double-doubles in the Mountaineer's first-ever season sweep over Oklahoma, fifth-year senior outside hitter Adrian Ell of the West Virginia University volleyball team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native, recorded a team season-high 21 kills and 11 digs on Friday to record her first Mountaineer double-double. Following the first win, Ell recorded 15 kills and a Mountaineer season-best 19 digs to record her second double-double of the weekend on Saturday.

Turning in a team-high .313 hitting efficiency, Ell averaged 4.50 kills per set for a total of 36 on the weekend. She led the team with 11 blocks and a season-high seven blocks on Friday.

Overall, Ell averaged 1.38 blocks per set and tallied 80 attacks in the squads' two wins.

Ell ranks fifth in the Big 12 in service aces with an average of .43 per set, and she ranks fifth in points with an average of 4.22 per set.

This Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers (12-1, 2-0 Big 12) travel to Austin, Texas, for a two-match series against No. 1 Texas (9-0, 0-0 Big 12), at Gregory Gymnasium, from Sept. 30-31 ... Thursday's match will begin at 9 p.m. ET, followed by Friday's match at 8 p.m.

Last Week in Volleyball: WVU opened Big 12 Conference play, as the squad hosted Oklahoma for a two-match series, in Morgantown, West Virginia, from Sept. 24-25, at the WVU Coliseum … on Friday, the Mountaineers beat the Sooners in set scores of 25-23, 25-14, 21-25 and 25-22 … WVU beat OU in another four-set match on Saturday evening, in set scores of 25-18, 22-25, 25-18 and 25-22 … overall, WVU averaged 14.75 kills per set for a .238 hitting efficiency … the squad tallied 12.88 assists per set, 18.88 digs per set and an average of 2.38 blocks per set … fifth-year senior outside hitter Adrian Ell led the weekend with her first two double-doubles as a Mountaineer, recording 21 kills and 11 digs on Friday, and 15 kills and 19 digs on Saturday … senior setter Lacey Zerwas also recorded a pair of double-doubles, marking her fifth of the season and 25th in her career … Zerwas tallied 46 assists and 13 digs on Friday, along with 45 assists and 10 digs on Saturday.

Notes:  With the wins over Oklahoma, WVU earned a season sweep over OU for the first time in program history ... West Virginia has now won three straight contests over Oklahoma and has taken the Sooners in four sets in all three matches … the Mountaineers and the Sooners met for the 21st time since 1999 and second time this season on Saturday ... Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 17-4 ... West Virginia ranks third in the Big 12 with an average of 14.60 digs per set … individually, three Mountaineers rank in the top 10 in the conference … fifth-year senior middle blocker Briana Lynch ranks third with a .363 hitting efficiency and 10th in blocks with an average of 1.06 per set … she is followed by Zerwas, who sits in fourth with an average of 9.73 assists per set ... fifth-year senior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting ranks fifth with an average of 3.81 digs per set ... the Mountaineers and the Longhorns will meet for the 19th time since 2012 ... Texas leads the all-time series, 18-0.

This Week in Men's Soccer: The Mountaineers open Mid-American Conference play by taking on No. 20 Akron on Thursday, Sept. 30, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Men's Soccer: West Virginia (6-0-2) earned a pair of home wins last week … WVU began the week with a 3-0 win over Dayton on Sept. 21, before it took down St. Bonaventure, 4-0, on Sept. 25 … senior forward Yoran Popovic scored the game-winning goal in the 20th minute against the Flyers, marking the first of two goals for the Zuidlaren, Netherlands, native on the week … redshirt sophomore defender Kyle Lehnert also scored in the UD match, finding the back of the net in the 77th minute for his first career goal … WVU's third goal came on an own goal … WVU outshot the Flyers, 18-3, in the win, including 7-0 in shots on goal … against St. Bonaventure, fifth-year senior defender Kevin Morris got the Mountaineers on the board with a 33rd-minute goal … then, WVU scored three goals in the second half, featuring tallies by freshman defender Frederik Jorgensen in the 51st minute and Popovic and sophomore midfielder Ryan Crooks in the 90th minute … West Virginia posted a season-best 20 shots in the win over the Bonnies, while holding the visitors to just five shot attempts on the day.

Notes: Following last week's wins, WVU is now unbeaten in eight matches to start the 2021 season, good for the program's best start since 2006 … West Virginia improved to 3-1 all-time against Dayton, as well as 10-1 against St. Bonaventure … the Mountaineers didn't allow a single shot on goal against Dayton, the first time a WVU opponent failed to record one since Sept. 3, 2016 (Princeton) … coach Dan Stratford is 8-0-2 against non-conference opponents during his head-coaching tenure at WVU … Popovic leads the team with three goals on the year and has found the back of the net in three straight matches … fifth-year senior goalkeeper Steven Tekesky has 39 career wins and 25 shutouts, good for No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in program history … West Virginia is 4-18-1 against Akron all time, including 1-7 in Morgantown … last season, the Zips took down the Mountaineers, 3-2, in double-overtime on April 7, 2021, in Akron … overall, WVU is 22-21-8 in MAC play since joining the league in 2012 … West Virginia's 16 goals have come from 11 different goal scorers … additionally, 18 different players have recorded at least one point so far this season … WVU checked in at No. 4 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Men's Division I poll, which was released on Sept. 21 … it tied the Mountaineers' highest ranking by the organization in program history.

This Week in Women's Soccer: The Mountaineers continue their homestand on Friday, Oct. 1, hosting Oklahoma in a 7 p.m. ET, matchup at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown … the match will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Last Week in Women's Soccer: Redshirt senior forward Lauren Segalla tallied the first brace of her career to lift the No. 13-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team to a 4-0 win over Iowa State and begin the 2021 Big 12 Conference campaign on Sept. 24 … along with two scores from Segalla, junior midfielder Juliana Lynch and sophomore forward/midfielder AJ Rodriguez also found the back of the net against the Cyclones, while senior midfielder Isabella Sibley recorded a pair of assists in the victory … defensively, the Mountaineers (7-2-1) recorded their fifth clean sheet of the campaign, holding Iowa State to just three shots on goal. Segalla's 28th minute, game-winning strike was the seventh of her career and second in as many games ... in the win, West Virginia led Iowa State in every category, including 16-5 in shots, 11-3 in shots on goal and 6-1 in corner kicks … Segalla led the offense with four shots on the night.

Notes: Following the victory, WVU moved to 10-0 all-time against the Cyclones, its second-most wins over any other Big 12 opponent … the Mountaineers also improved to 9-0-1 all-time in Big 12 season openers … Segalla became WVU's 125th two-goal scorer in program history and first to record a brace since senior Alina Stahl scored two against Saint Joseph's on March 7, 2021 … with two assists in Friday's win, Sibley became the first Mountaineer to tally a pair of helpers in a single game since Oct. 30, 2020 … West Virginia currently ranks No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference in corner kicks per game, creating an average of 8.70 opportunities per contest … Lynch and Rodriguez each tallied their second goals of the campaign against the Cyclones … with two goals against ISU, Segalla now leads the Mountaineers with five scores and 10 points on the year … the Salisbury, Connecticut, native also ranks No. 8 in the conference in goals per game (0.50) and sits tied for No. 8 in total goals (5).

This Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers return to action at the Louisville Classic, in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, Oct. 2, at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

Last Week in Cross Country: West Virginia traveled to the LHU Invitational, on Saturday, Sept. 25, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania ... fifth-year senior Hayley Jackson led the way and took first place ... Jackson finished the 6k with a time of 20:51.5 ... she was followed by Maria Kaylor, who placed fifth and finished with a time of 21:33.6 ... Redshirt junior Malina Mitchell followed and placed 56th with a 6k time of 23:31.5.

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 a race at Lehigh, on Friday, Sept. 3 ... at the LHU Invitational, WVU was one of 27 teams that raced ... WVU raced a small version of their team this past weekend.

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

Last Week in Golf: WVU was off last week ... the team last competed in the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 13-14.

Notes: In the Mountaineer Invitational next Monday and Tuesday at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia, the Mountaineers will be joined by Bowling Green, Drexel, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, George Mason, Marshall, Maryland, NC State, Ohio, Penn State and Xavier.

This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers continue their fall slate this weekend, as the team travels to Lynchburg, Virginia, for the ITA Atlantic Regional Tournament ... this year's regional tournament is hosted by Liberty … the tournament takes place Friday, Oct. 1, through Monday, Oct. 4.

Last Week in Tennis: WVU traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, to co-host Thunder in the Mountains alongside Marshall … the Mountaineers finished the weekend with 26 total wins, tallying nine doubles wins and 17 singles victories… West Virginia went undefeated in doubles play… freshmen Camilla Bossi and Michaela Kucharova, sophomore Ting-Pei Chang,and junior Penny Hsieh all went undefeated in both singles and doubles matches.

Notes: WVU coach Miha enters his eighth season with the Mountaineers … West Virginia is set to compete in four tournaments this fall … following ITA Regionals, WVU returns to Morgantown to host the Martha Thorn Invitational from Oct. 15-17… the Mountaineers welcome James Madison, Louisville and Penn State to their annual tournament.

This Week in Swimming & Diving: The Mountaineers kick off the season with their annual intersquad Gold Blue meet on Saturday, Oct. 2 ... the meet will take place at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park at 10 a.m. ET.

Last Season in Swimming & Diving: WVU broke five school records during the 2021 campaign, including a pair of program records at Big 12 Championships … the Mountaineers had eight divers qualify for the 2021 NCAA Zone A Championships …  West Virginia had five athletes qualify for the 2021 Men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, including four divers ... WVU's four divers at NCAA's marked the first time in program history that multiple divers competed at a single championship, while the five Mountaineer competitors were the most for West Virginia since 2007 … senior David Dixon earned a 12th-place finish in the 200 butterfly, at NCAA's to earn Honorable Mention All-American honors, becoming the 36th All-American.

Notes: WVU head coach Vic Riggs enters his 15th season with the Mountaineers … this will be West Virginia's third season at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park … the Mountaineers will host seven meets during the 2021-22 season, including the Big 12 Championships … following the Gold Blue meet, WVU will host the West Virginia State games from Oct. 8-9.

This Week in Rifle: West Virginia opens the 2021-22 season on Saturday, Oct. 2, when the team travels to Oxford, Mississippi, to square off with Ole Miss … Saturday's start time against the Rebels will be announced this week … the Mountaineers then head to Murray, Kentucky, on Sunday, Oct. 3, for a matchup with Murray State … Sunday's contest against the Racers is set for 9 a.m. ET.

Last Season in Rifle: WVU finished the 2020-21 season with a 7-1 record, including a 5-1 mark in the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) … the Mountaineers qualified for its 14th consecutive NCAA Rifle Championships and finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) poll … West Virginia also captured its conference-best 14th GARC title a season ago, after shooting a two-day total of 4727 at the conference championships … at season's end, a program-record nine shooters earned a combined, 22 CRCA All-America honors, while nine shooters also took home 21 All-GARC honors … senior Verena Zaisberger also received the Elite 90 Award for NCAA Division I Rifle last year, becoming the fourth Mountaineer since 2011-12 to earn the achievement … Zaisberger was the first Mountaineer to win the award since Elizabeth Gratz in 2017-18 … Zaisberger also represented WVU as the team's GARC Scholar-Athlete … five student-athletes also were named to the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 At-Large First Team to cap last year.

Notes: WVU coach Jon Hammond enters his 16th season as the Mountaineers' head coach in 2021-22 … in his first 15 seasons, the Aberdeen, Scotland, native owns a career record of 157-16, including a 93-12 record in the GARC … additionally, Hammond holds a career winning percentage of .908 … West Virginia returns nine student-athletes from last year's squad, including seniors Jared Eddy and Verena Zaisberger … WVU also adds one newcomer to this year's team in freshman Natalie Perrin … in 2021-22, the Mountaineers averaged a team score of 4719, including 2339.111 in smallbore and 2379.889 in air rifle … WVU's opponents averaged a score of 4678.3 a season ago.