Quinerly Named Student-Athlete of the Week

February 14, 2022 02:08 PM | Baseball, General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

Varsity Sports Report

By: WVU Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After averaging a team-best 15.0 points per game last week for WVU, freshman guard JJ Quinerly of the women's basketball team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

In a pair of starts last week, Quinerly led West Virginia's offensive attack. Additionally, her scoring average last week ranked No. 1 among Big 12 freshmen and No. 11 overall in the league. Quinerly also shot 42.9% or better from the floor in each game a week ago.

The Norfolk, Virginia, native began the week with a career-best 22 points to pace the Mountaineers' scoring efforts against Kansas on Feb. 9, in Morgantown. Quinerly also set new career highs in field goals made (nine), 3-pointers made (two) and minutes played (39) in the game.

Later in the week at No. 10/11 Baylor, she notched eight points to go along with three assists for WVU.

With her 22 points against the Jayhawks, Quinerly has now led WVU in scoring twice this season and has six double-figure scoring games on the year. Since joining the starting lineup on Feb. 2 at TCU, she has averaged 13.5 points across four games.

This Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia prepares for a pair of Big 12 Conference contests this week, both on the road and at home … WVU opens the week on Tuesday, Feb. 15, when the Mountaineers square off against Kansas … tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, inside Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence … West Virginia then returns to Morgantown on Sunday, Feb. 20, to take on Texas for its annual 'Play4Kay' Pink Game, presented by the WVU Cancer Institute … tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m., inside the WVU Coliseum … Sunday's contest against the Longhorns will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia (11-11, 4-8 Big 12) suffered a pair of Big 12 losses last week … WVU began the week with a 65-47 loss to Kansas on Feb. 9, in Morgantown … the Mountaineers were led by freshman guard JJ Quinerly, who scored a career-high 22 points in the loss to go along with five rebounds and two steals … junior forward Esmery Martinez hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds to pace WVU on the glass vs. KU … West Virginia concluded last week's action with a 75-57 loss to No. 10/11 Baylor on Feb. 12, at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas … WVU's scoring efforts were led by senior guard Madisen Smith, who tied her season-high with 18 points … the Greenville, South Carolina, native also led the Mountaineers on the glass, with a career-high 12 rebounds, to tally her first career double-double … additionally, Smith tied her season high, with eight assists, at BU.

Notes: Of note, Smith's stat line of 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists at Baylor was the first instance by a Mountaineer since Alia Clark at Providence on Feb. 17, 2001 (18 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists) … Moreover, Smith is only the third Mountaineer to record a stat line of 18-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 8-plus assists in single-game program history, along with Clark and JD Drummonds vs. Steubenville on Jan. 10, 1981 (23 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) … West Virginia has forced 444 turnovers this season and is averaging 20.18 turnovers forced per game this season, good for No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 23 nationally … WVU's record when forcing 20 or more turnovers in a game this season is 10-4 … over the last four games, senior forward Kari Niblack is averaging 3.8 blocks per game and has multiple swats in each contest … Niblack has tallied multiple blocks in 51 career games at WVU … since joining the starting lineup at TCU on Feb. 2, Quinerly is averaging 13.5 points per game, 5.9 points better than her season average of 7.6 … during that span, Smith (15.0) and Niblack (12.0) also are averaging double figures in scoring for the Mountaineers.

This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia welcomes Wyoming to Morgantown on Friday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m ET ... the contest marks the Mountaineers' regular-season finale and Senior Night inside the WVU Coliseum … the final dual will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on Trackwrestling.

Last Week in Wrestling: WVU scored its first Big 12 victory of the season, as the Mountaineers defeated Utah Valley, 21-16, in Morgantown on Saturday, Feb. 13 … after falling behind 10-6 midway through the dual, the Mountaineers (6-7, 1-5 Big 12) retook the lead with back-to-back pins by sophomores Peyton Hall (165) and Dennis Robin (174) to put them up 18-10 … Hall captured his fifth pin of the season to improve to a team-leading 21-2 overall record … Robin's win marked his third against a ranked opponent and second pin of the campaign … despite dropping both bouts at 184 and 197, redshirt sophomore Michael Wolfgram sealed the deal at heavyweight after recording a team-high five takedowns towards a 11-4 decision in the final match of the day … to open Saturday's matcup, a pair of All-American's clashed, as No. 10 Killian Cardinale outlasted No. 14 Taylor LaMont for a 3-2 decision at 125 pounds … two matches later, redshirt sophomore Jeffrey Boyd (149) secured a 2-0 victory over Sam Edelblute (UVU) … Boyd rode out Edelblute in the second period to lock up riding time and then added an escape in the third to complete the shutout.

Notes: Cardinale (125), Hall (165), and Wolfgram (HWT) remain among the top 33 of their respective weight classes in the second NCAA Coaches' ranking … Cardinale and Hall both rank in the top 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 respectively , while Wolfgram checks in at No. 25 … seven Mountaineers also earn a spot in the first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) put out by the NCAA … the list includes freshman Garett Lautzenheiser (133) at No. 31, senior Caleb Rea (141) at No. 32, redshirt junior Alex Hornfeck (157) at No. 29, Hall (165) at No. 1, Robin (174) at No. 26, redshirt sophomore Anthony Carman (184) at No. 15, and Wolfgram (HWT) at No. 18 … the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are currently scheduled for March 17-19, in Detroit, Michigan for the first time in NCAA history … it's also the fourth time that the Championships will be held in the state of Michigan, with the last time being in 2007 (Auburn Hills) … additionally, the Big 12 Championship will return to the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the sixth consecutive year on March 5-6.

This Week in Rifle: West Virginia begins the 2021-22 postseason on Saturday, Feb. 19, as the Mountaineers play host to VMI and North Georgia for the NCAA Qualifying Match … a start time for the event will be announced later this week … the event will be held at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range, inside the WVU Shell Building in Morgantown.

Last Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers concluded the 2021-22 regular season with a 4702-4700 loss to No. 2 Kentucky on Feb. 12, in Morgantown … even with the loss, WVU claimed a share of the 2021-22 Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season title, finishing in a three-way tie with UK and Ole Miss … West Virginia began the match by besting Kentucky in smallbore, 2329-2325, and went into the air rifle relay with a four-point lead … however, the Wildcats shot six points better than the Mountaineers in air rifle, 2377-2371, to claim the match … WVU was led by sophomore Tal Engler who tallied an aggregate score of 1185, which included a career-best 599 mark in air rifle … Engler's 599 led the match's air rifle standings … UK's Will Shaner took the top spot on the overall leaderboard with a combined score of 1186 (589 smallbore, 597 air rifle).

Notes: WVU has now been named the GARC regular-season champion in each of the last two seasons and has won the regular-season crown 13 times in program history … West Virginia finished the regular season at 12-1, including 7-1 in the GARC … during his 16 seasons at West Virginia, coach Jon Hammond has won at least 10 regular-season matches 11 times … moreover, Hammond has tallied at least 12 victories in the regular season six times … West Virginia is shooting an average combined team score of 4723 this season, good for No. 2 nationally, and has shot 4725 or better as a team in five matches this season … West Virginia's season-high team score came on Jan. 22, at Navy (4739) … the Mountaineers also rank No. 2 nationally in average smallbore score (2345.5) and are No. 4 in average air rifle score (2377.5) … Engler now leads WVU in average aggregate score, with 1181, and ranks No. 11 in the country in the category … the Tzur Yigal, Israel, native also paces the squad in average air rifle score, with 594.9, and ranks No. 10 nationally … senior Verena Zaisberger continues to lead WVU in smallbore average, with 586.6, and is No. 9 nationally in the discipline.

This Week in Swimming & Diving: West Virginia is off this week ... the Mountaineers return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the 2022 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park, in Morgantown ... this year's championship will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Last Week in Swimming & Diving: WVU was off last week.

Notes: The Mountaineer men's squad defeated Villanova, 195-96, and tallied its eighth consecutive win over the Wilcats … fifth-year senior Ana Zortea broke the program record in the woman's 100-yard backstroke at the invite, touching the wall in 53.41 … the Mountaineers also had seven divers earn an NCAA Zones-qualifying score during the WVU Invite … freshman Sarah Krusinski (281.95), junior Marian Tiemeier (271.00) and senior Camille Burt (269.45) swept the women's 1-meter and earned their Zones-qualifying scores … Krusinski's recorded a 269.85 on 1-meter … senior Nick Cover notched a 349.90, just shy of a personal best to qualify for Zones … on men's platform, senior PJ Lenz (332.95), Cover (306.75) and freshman Glenn Eloriaga (305.40) all recorded Zones-qualifying scores at the mid-season meet.

This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers (4-2, 0-0 Big 12) are back on the road this weekend for the fourth time this spring … WVU travels to Huntington, West Virginia, to face in-state foe Marshall on Friday, Feb. 18 … first serve against the Thundering Herd is set for 1 p.m. ET, at the Brian David Fox Tennis Center … the Mountaineers then make their way to Lexington, Kentucky on Sunday, Feb. 20 … competition against the Wildcats is set for 10 a.m., at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex.

Last Week in Tennis: West Virginia played host to Duquesne and Youngstown state for a pair of dual matches on Sunday, Feb. 13 … the Mountaineers dominated competition from the start of Sunday's nonconference doubleheader, defeating the Dukes, 6-1, and Youngstown State, 5-2 … WVU swept both doubles competition and won 9-of-13 singles matches … against Duquesne, senior Anastasiia Bovolskaia's win (6-3, 6-3) over Natasha Novack claimed the match for the Mountaineers … senior Penny Hsieh secured the YSU match for WVU, dominating Maria Oliveira, 6-1, 6-1 … battling through three sets, freshman Tatiana Lipatova was able to close out the match against YSU with a win, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

Notes: Sunday's competition against Duquesne marked the 31st meeting between the two schools … West Virginia and Youngstown State met for the fifth time since 2007 … the Mountaineers lead the all-time series, 5-0 … in the five meetings, WVU has outscored YSU, 27-7 … Lipatova leads the Mountaineers with most singles wins and remains undefeated (5-0) through six contests … following competition in Lexington, the Mountaineers play host to George Washington and Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 26 ... first serve against GWU is set for 9 a.m. ET and competition against the Rockets will start at 3 p.m. in Morgantown.

This Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia prepares to travel to Towson, Maryland, for the second time this season … the Mountaineers are scheduled to compete against Towson and Ursinus College on Saturday, Feb. 19 … competition inside SECU Arena is set for 6 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU soared to a season-high total on the uneven bars to finish in first place in a tri-meet against Pitt and Texas Woman's on Feb. 11 … the Mountaineers tallied three consecutive scores of 9.875 to close the rotation, recording their first bars total of 49.0+ with a 49.150 on the event … West Virginia finished first on every event except for balance beam, earning the team win on vault, bars and floor exercise on its way to a winning, 195.9 total … Pitt finished second in the tri meet with a 194.575, while TWU finished third with a 194.5 … junior Kianna Yancey paced West Virginia's podium finishers, as she tallied a pair of first-place finishes, while senior Rachel Hornung earned a win on the all-around … five other Mountaineers – senior Kendra Combs, junior Emily Holmes-Hacked, sophomore Kiana Lewis and freshmen Anna Leigh and Brooke Alban – also ascended the podium against Pitt and TWU … Hornung and Combs were the lone Mountaineer competitors in the all-around, as Hornung topped the podium with a career-best 39.175 … Combs followed in second place, after notching a 39.125 total.

Notes: Freshman Heide Hartje made her Mountaineer debut against Pitt and TWU on Friday, appearing in the anchor position of the vault lineup and scoring a 9.8 … Holmes-Hackerd made her season debut on floor exercise during Friday's tri meet … five different Mountaineers set seven total career highs against Pitt and TWU on Friday – Alban on vault and beam, Hornung on vault and the all-around, Combs on bars, Leigh on bars and sophomore Agatha Handono on beam … additionally, Yancey and Lewis also matched their career highs on Friday night, as Yancey earned career-high-matching totals on bars and floor and Lewis matched her career best on beam … West Virginia checks in at No. 15 on floor exercise in this week's Road to Nationals rankings, with a 49.260 average on the event … the squad ranks No. 27 on vault (48.950 avg.) and No. 35 on beam (48.69 avg.) … individually, junior Abbie Pierson ranks No. 7 on floor in the Big 12 Conference with a 9.875 season average … Combs follows at No. 9 (9.865) and Lewis checks in at No. 10 (9.855).

This Week in Track and Field: West Virginia caps the 2021-22 indoor track and field regular season when the team splits for a pair of matches on Feb. 18-19 … part of the team will travel to the Penn State Tune Up at the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track, in University Park, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Feb. 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET ... another part of the team will attend the JDL DMR Invitational at the JDL Fast Track, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Feb. 18-19 … Friday's action is set for 6 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Last Week in Track and Field: WVU split and attended a trio of meets on Feb. 11-12 … part of the team traveled the David Hemery Valentine Invite in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Track and Tennis Center, on Friday, Feb. 11 … another small group went to the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, at the Lied-Recreation Athletic Facility, on Feb. 11-12 … a majority of the team traveled to the Marshall Classic, in Huntington, West Virginia, at the Jeff Small Track at the Chris Cline Athletic Complex, on Feb. 11-12 … starting with action at the Iowa State Classic on Saturday, sophomore Jo-Lauren Keane ran in the 800-meter run, finishing in a time of 2:07.90 to take fifth place … sophomore Cassandra Williamson also ran in the 800-meter and placed 11th in a time of 2:09.61 … at Marshall, sophomore Abigale Mullings placed first in the high jump competition with a height of 1.64 meters … sophomore Maria Kaylor placed first in Saturday's mile at Penn State and finished the race in a time of 5:06.98.

Notes: The Mountaineers last competed at Penn State on Jan. 29 at the Penn State Sykes and Sabock Challenge where sophomore Jo-Lauren Keane recorded an indoor school program record in the 800-meter run … Keane finished the race in a time of 2:05.80, good for third place … the 800-meter record was previously set by Kate Vermeulen, who recorded a time of 2:06.42 … WVU last saw action at the JDL Fast Track on Feb. 19, 2021 when the distance medley relay team led the way with a third-place finish on the first night of competition at the Camel City Invitational … the team of Ceili McCabe, Jo-Lauren Keane, Tessa Constantine and Hayley Jackson crossed the finish line in the DMR in 11:16.8 to take third place.

This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers return to action in Henderson, Nevada, from Feb. 28-March 2 at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate at Reflection Bay Golf Club.

Last Week in Golf: Fifth-year senior Mark Goetz posted a top-10 finish for thw WVU golf team in its first spring team tournament of 2022 at the Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Florida … the native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, finished tied for 10th place at 2-under-par ... Goetz shot rounds of 69-69-70=208 … the tournament was played at the par-70 Mark Bostick Golf Course … fifth-year senior Logan Perkins finished tied for 34th at 4-over-par (73-70-71=214), sophomore Jackson Davenport tied for 49th at 8-over-par (73-71-74=218), junior Trent Tipton tied for 55th with rounds of 75-69-75=219 (+9) and senior Kurtis Grant tied for 69th with rounds of 74-76-73=223 (+13). … as a team, the Mountaineers tied for 10th place (289-279-288=856, +16) with Florida Atlantic.

Note: As a team, WVU was one stroke behind Penn State and Jacksonville and finished ahead of No. 37 Missouri, No. 55 UCF, UNC Wilmington and No. 23 Liberty.

This Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers open the 2022 season with a trip to Conway, South Carolina, for the Baseball at the Beach event, hosted by Coastal Carolina … WVU takes on Central Michigan on Friday, Feb. 18, before battling Kent State on Saturday, Feb. 19, and CMU again on Sunday, Feb. 20 … all three games are set for a 11 a.m. ET, first pitch at Springs Brooks Stadium.

Last Season in Baseball: WVU finished 25-27 last spring, including 8-16 in Big 12 play … the Mountaineers won multiple games at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship for the sixth time in the last eight tournaments, including the fifth time in a row … West Virginia finished 15-12 at Monongalia County Ballpark in 2021, marking its seventh consecutive winning season at the venue since it opened in 2015 … the squad earned its highest-ranked win in program history with a 5-4 victory at No. 2 Texas on May 20 … the club matched the feat six days later with a 5-1 win over the Longhorns at the Big 12 Championship on May 26 … left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors, while catcher/outfielder Paul McIntosh and outfielder Austin Davis were honorable-mention selections … additionally, left-handed pitcher Ben Hampton and infielder Mikey Kluska landed on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team … Hampton also appeared on Perfect Game/Rawlings' Freshman All-America Team … in the classroom, a program-record 12 players named to the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Baseball Team, including eight first-team selection, also tops in team history.

Notes: A pair of Mountaineers appeared on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team – senior outfielder Austin Davis and junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Watters … Watters also was featured on NCBWA's Preseason All-America Third Team … elsewhere, freshman first baseman/outfielder Grant Hussey was named the Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game … West Virginia's 53-game schedule features nine different NCAA Tournament opponents … WVU returns 16 lettermen from last season's squad, including four everyday starters … the Mountaineers' 40-man roster consists of 16 freshmen, nine sophomores, eight juniors, four seniors and three fifth-year seniors … although West Virginia was picked to finished eighth in the Preseason Big 12 poll, the Mountaineers have finished higher than their preseason ranking in five of eight seasons in Big 12 play … head coach Randy Mazey enters his 10th season at the helm in 2022 … the veteran skipper is 263-208 at WVU.