Saturday, February 12
Morgantown, W.Va.
9:00 a.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Kentucky
Photo by: Rylan Nemesh
No. 4 WVU Welcomes No. 2 Kentucky for Regular-Season Finale
February 11, 2022 12:03 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following a week off, the No. 4-ranked West Virginia University rifle team caps the 2021-22 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 12, as the Mountaineers play host to No. 2 Kentucky at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range in Morgantown.
Saturday's match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET, inside the WVU Shell Building. The contest is Senior Day, as the Mountaineers look to recognize seniors Jared Eddy and Verena Zaisberger. Live stats and targets will be available on WVUsports.com. Admission is free and open to the public.
Masks are strongly encouraged at WVU Athletics venues during public events.
West Virginia has a chance to clinch its 13th regular-season title within the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) on Saturday. With a win, WVU will clinch the regular-season crown outright, and with a loss, the Mountaineers will tie with Kentucky and Ole Miss for the title.
WVU was crowned the GARC regular-season champion a season ago and has claimed the league's regular-season crown in seven of the last eight seasons.
"We're looking forward to our senior day and the last conference match of the season," WVU coach Jon Hammond said. "It's always special to have a senior day, and while we want to focus on the match, it's important to recognize our seniors this year, being Jared and Verena.
It's not every match you get to compete against the defending NCAA champions, and this one is elevated even more, with UK having the Olympic champion in air rifle and another Olympic medalist. Having two Olympic medalists on one team is unprecedented, and it will give all of our athletes a unique challenge."
West Virginia (12-0, 7-0 GARC) and Kentucky (8-1, 5-1 GARC) are set to meet for the 32nd time on Saturday. WVU holds a 20-11 advantage in the series against UK, but the Wildcats have taken the last two meetings against the Mountaineers.
WVU and Kentucky last competed a season ago, a 4723-4717 Wildcats' victory on Feb. 13, 2021, at the UK Rifle Range in Lexington.
"Obviously, we want to win the conference outright rather than a share, but at the same time, we do have to focus on ourselves and just have our best performance and see how that stacks up at the end of the match," Hammond added.
West Virginia last competed on Jan. 29, in a tri-match against Akron and Morehead State in Morgantown. The Mountaineers shot a combined team score of 4726 to defeat the Zips (4670) and Eagles (4642) to earn a pair of victories.
Eight WVU shooters finished inside the top 10 of the overall match leaderboard, including the top-seven spots. Sophomore Tal Engler placed first with an aggregate score 1182, while junior Calista Smoyer also shot an 1182 and claimed second place.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Saturday's match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET, inside the WVU Shell Building. The contest is Senior Day, as the Mountaineers look to recognize seniors Jared Eddy and Verena Zaisberger. Live stats and targets will be available on WVUsports.com. Admission is free and open to the public.
Masks are strongly encouraged at WVU Athletics venues during public events.
West Virginia has a chance to clinch its 13th regular-season title within the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) on Saturday. With a win, WVU will clinch the regular-season crown outright, and with a loss, the Mountaineers will tie with Kentucky and Ole Miss for the title.
WVU was crowned the GARC regular-season champion a season ago and has claimed the league's regular-season crown in seven of the last eight seasons.
"We're looking forward to our senior day and the last conference match of the season," WVU coach Jon Hammond said. "It's always special to have a senior day, and while we want to focus on the match, it's important to recognize our seniors this year, being Jared and Verena.
It's not every match you get to compete against the defending NCAA champions, and this one is elevated even more, with UK having the Olympic champion in air rifle and another Olympic medalist. Having two Olympic medalists on one team is unprecedented, and it will give all of our athletes a unique challenge."
West Virginia (12-0, 7-0 GARC) and Kentucky (8-1, 5-1 GARC) are set to meet for the 32nd time on Saturday. WVU holds a 20-11 advantage in the series against UK, but the Wildcats have taken the last two meetings against the Mountaineers.
WVU and Kentucky last competed a season ago, a 4723-4717 Wildcats' victory on Feb. 13, 2021, at the UK Rifle Range in Lexington.
"Obviously, we want to win the conference outright rather than a share, but at the same time, we do have to focus on ourselves and just have our best performance and see how that stacks up at the end of the match," Hammond added.
West Virginia last competed on Jan. 29, in a tri-match against Akron and Morehead State in Morgantown. The Mountaineers shot a combined team score of 4726 to defeat the Zips (4670) and Eagles (4642) to earn a pair of victories.
Eight WVU shooters finished inside the top 10 of the overall match leaderboard, including the top-seven spots. Sophomore Tal Engler placed first with an aggregate score 1182, while junior Calista Smoyer also shot an 1182 and claimed second place.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
A Conversation with Wren Baker
Monday, December 05
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, September 30
Life as a Mountaineer - Jared Eddy
Wednesday, March 24
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, January 14
