West Virginia Falls at Kentucky

Saturday, February 11

Lexington, Ky.

8 a.m.

West Virginia University

4726

4734

Kentucky

February 11, 2023 05:29 PM | Rifle

Scorecard

By: John Keehan

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team fell to the No. 4-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats, 4734-4726, on Saturday, Feb. 11, in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Today wasn't our best performance, and this was definitely a match we wanted to win," coach Jon Hammond said. "We showed some good resiliency to come back in air rifle after our smallbore wasn't enough."

Saturday marked the third contest between the Mountaineers and Wildcats this season. WVU claimed victory in air rifle 2385-2380 but was outshot in smallbore 2354-2341. West Virginia secured victory in the two prior meetings this season.

"While it's disappointing to lose this one, we have to make sure we learn from it and turn it into a positive, so we can finish the season with some strong performances," Hammond said.

Senior Mary Tucker and Kentucky's Sofia Ceccarello notched 1191 points to lead the individual leaderboard. Tucker earned a 592 in smallbore and a 599 in air rifle. The Sarasota, Florida, native tied her season best air rifle score in her return to the Bluegrass State.

Six Mountaineers finished inside the top 10 of the individual leaderboard. Junior Matt Sanchez followed Tucker for WVU, racking up a 1179 with 582 smallbore points and 597 air rifle points. Sanchez's performance was good enough to earn fifth, and his 597 in air rifle ties his season best.

Fifth-year senior Verena Zaisberger and junior Tal Engler claimed sixth and seventh, respectively. Zaisberger notched a 587 in smallbore and a 592 in air rifle for a 1179. Engler finished one point behind Zaisberger and Sanchez, tallying 590 smallbore points and 588 air rifle points.

Junior Molly McGhin and senior Malori Brown rounded out the top ten for the Mountaineers. McGhin put up a 581 in smallbore and a 595 in air rifle for a 1176. Brown shot a 586 in smallbore and a 589 in air rifle to sum to 1175 aggregate points.

Sophomore Natalie Perrin followed for WVU with a 1174. The Cooperville, Michigan, native recorded a 580 in smallbore and a 594 in air rifle. Senior Akihito Shimizu notched 572 smallbore points and 594 air rifle points for a 1166.

Senior Calista Smoyer tallied 1157 points with a 569 in smallbore and 588 air rifle points. Freshman Visnu Pandian earned 542 smallbore points and 581 air rifle points. Junior Becca Lamb earned a 573 in smallbore.

West Virginia continues with NCAA Qualifying in Lexington, Virginia, on Saturday, Feb. 18. Live stats for the match in Lexington can be found on WVUsports.com.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.