Pierson Named Student-Athlete of the Week

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh

March 06, 2023 03:58 PM | Baseball, General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

By: WVU Athletics Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After helping the Mountaineers post its highest team score since 2004, senior Abbie Pierson of the West Virginia University gymnastics team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Pierson posted a season high on all three events in which she competed to help the Mountaineers earn a 197.325 to beat Pitt and Central Michigan in WVU's home, regular-season finale on March 5. The New Kensington, Pennsylvania, native tallied a season-best 9.925 on vault, a season-high 9.875 on beam and a career-high tying 9.925 on floor. Pierson's score on floor matched her career high, which she hasn't reached since 2020 when she hit the career-best mark as a freshman.

In the final event standings, Pierson finished in a tie for first on vault and second on floor. She also helped WVU earn season-high event scores of 49.425 on vault and 49.475 on beam, WVU's highest totals on the two events since 2004.

West Virginia now looks ahead to its final weekend of the regular season when it travels to No. 6 LSU on Friday, March 10, and Rutgers on Sunday, March 12.

This Week in Women's Basketball: WVU (19-10) is set for the 2022-23 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship … West Virginia opens play in the quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed and will take on No. 4 Oklahoma State on Friday at 12 p.m. ET … the championship is set to take place at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia finished the week with a 2-0 record to close out its regular season … WVU opened the week with a 71-67 win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday, March 1, in its final home contest before defeating Baylor 63-52 in Waco, Texas on Saturday, March 4… WVU has won its last three games, securing the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Championship.

Notes: Smith made her 135th career start, the second-most starts in program history, moving past Linda Stepney (2012-15)… Smith has 4,542 minutes played and needs just 15 more minutes to set the program's all-time mark.

This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia is off this week, before returning to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships from March 16-18 … fifth-year senior Killian Cardinale (125), junior Sam Hillegas (149), senior Scott Joll (174), redshirt junior Anthony Carman (184) and redshirt sophomore Austin Cooley (197) each look forward with anticipation for the NCAA committee's announcement of who will be awarded one of the remaining 46 at-large bids on Tuesday, March 7 … final brackets and seeding are set to be announced on Wednesday, March 8, via NCAA.com at 8 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Wrestling: Ten members of the West Virginia University wrestling team competed at the 2023 Big 12 Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on March 4-5 … five of the ten claimed a top-eight spot to land on the podium, including junior Peyton Hall (165) taking sixth, redshirt freshman Jordan Titus (141), Joll (174) and Cooley (197) each placing seventh and redshirt junior Michael Wolfgram (HWT) rounding out the group in eighth … three of the five who placed earned automatic bids into the national tournament, including Titus and Wolfgram both claiming the final allocation at their respective weight classes; 141 (7) and HWT (8) … Hall also captured a spot as well at 165.

Notes: Based on last weekend's Big 12 Championship results, WVU has clinched three automatic bids and could earn as much as five more from at-large bids heading into the NCAA Championships … here are rankings from the most recent NCAA Coaches Ranking and RPI: Cardinale (No. 7 – 125), Hall (No. 11 – 16 RPI – 165), Wolfgram (No. 21 – 16 RPI – HWT), Hillegas (No. 28 – 22 RPI – 149), Carman (No. 31 – 17 RPI – 184), Titus (No. 31 – 30 RPI – 141) and Cooley (No. 32 – 33 RPI – 197) … if the Mountaineers add five more, then it would be the first time that West Virginia has sent eight since 2003 (9) … the last time the program took seven was in 2008 … the 2012 squad was the last team to qualify six, while head coach Tim Flynn guided five wrestlers to the tournament in his first season on the job (2019).

This Week in Swimming & Diving: The West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will host the 2023 NCAA Zone A Diving Championship at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park on March 6-8. The Mountaineers will then travel to Elkhart, Indiana, to compete in the 2023 CSCAA National Invitational at the Beacon Health Aquatic Center, March 9-11.

Last Week in Swimming & Diving: The Mountaineers were off last week.

Notes: NCAA Zone-qualifying scores: Sophomore Sarah Krusinski (1-meter and 3-meter), freshman Abigail Sullivan (1-meter and platform), senior Marian Tiemeier (1-meter and 3-meter), senior Owen Johns (1-meter, 3-meter, and platform) and sophomore Glenn Eloriaga (1-meter, 3-meter, platform).

This Week in Tennis: The West Virginia University women's tennis team (9-3, 0-0 Big 12) begins Big 12 conference play against Kansas State on Friday, March 10, at 5 p.m., before a matchup against Kansas on Sunday, March 12, at 11 a.m. Both matches will take place at the Summit Tennis Academy in Morgantown.

Last Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers defeated Cleveland State, 5-2, before defeating Howard, 6-1, on March 4, at the Summit Tennis Academy in Morgantown … against Cleveland State, junior Momoko Nagato and sophomore Michaela Kucharova claimed the first victory of the day, winning 6-2 … sophomore Camilla Bossi and senior Ting-Pei Chang clinched the doubles point for West Virginia after a hard-fought match, winning 7-5 … during singles play, Bossi, Chang, fifth-year senior Pei-Ju Hsieh and sophomore Tatiana Lipatova were victorious in two sets … at No. 6 singles, Lipatova clinched the match for WVU, 6-3, 6-0 … Kucharova fell at No. 3 singles, while Dodik fought through all three sets and a tiebreaker, but ultimately fell short at No. 4 singles … later in the afternoon against Howard, two of the three doubles pairs were victorious, stopping Dodik and Hsieh at 5-2 when the Mountaineers clinched the doubles point … during singles play, Dodik, Chang, Bossi, Hsieh and Nagato clinched wins for West Virginia ... at No. 1 singles, Bossi clinched the match in two sets for WVU … Kucharova suffered WVU's only loss of the match, falling in three sets.

Notes: During last year's competition, the Mountaineers were defeated by Kansas State, 4-0 … Kansas State leads the all-time series against West Virginia, 11-0 … during the 2021-22 season, WVU was defeated by Kansas, 4-2 … the Jayhawks hold the series record, 8-0, against the Mountaineers.

This Week in Track and Field: Sophomore Ceili McCabe of the West Virginia University track and field team travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete in the 3,000-meter at the NCAA 2023 Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday, March 11 … the race is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers were off last week.

Notes: McCabe notched the fourth-fastest 3,000-meter time in the country this season, crossing the finish line at 8:50.44 at the Boston University Sharon Colyear Danville Season Opener … McCabe's performance was good enough to set the WVU program record.

This Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers travel to Akron, Ohio, from March 10-11, for the 2022-23 NCAA Rifle Championships ... this year's event is hosted by Akron and will take place at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU did not compete last week.

Notes: West Virginia looks to claim its 20th national championship … WVU has claimed a nation-best 19 NCAA National Championships … WVU has seen 28 student-athletes win individual NCAA National Championships in program history ... the Mountaineers qualified as the field's second-ranked team with a qualifying mark of 9489.33 ... joining WVU at this year's championships are No. 1 TCU, No. 3 Alaska-Fairbanks, No. 4 Murray State, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 8 Air Force.

This Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia hits the road to wrap up the regular season, competing in a pair of road dual meets this weekend … first up, WVU travels to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to take on No. 6 LSU on Friday, March 10 … competition inside the Maravich Center is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET … the Mountaineers then conclude the regular season at Rutgers on Sunday, March 12 … action inside Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey, is tabbed for 2 p.m.

Last Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers took first place in their final regular-season home meet of the year with a season-high 197.325 … Central Michigan placed second with a 196.5 and Pitt finished in third place with a 196.125 … WVU began the meet on vault, led by a season-high 9.925 and first-place finish from senior Abbie Pierson on its way to a season-best 49.425 … senior Kianna Yancey paced West Virginia on uneven bars, earning a 9.85 to help the Mountaineers earn a 48.9 in the second rotation … WVU then moved to balance beam where it earned another season-high total … West Virginia's 49.475 on beam was led by a pair of career-best 9.925s from Yancey and fifth-year senior Kendra Combs, as the duo finished together atop the beam podium … the Mountaineer floor lineup then tallied a 49.525 to help the team exceed the 197.0 threshold … a career-high matching 9.95 from senior Emily Holmes-Hackerd led the way on the final event, giving the senior her seventh floor title this season … Yancey was the lone Mountaineer competitor in the all-around, as she earned a career-best 39.45 to top the podium.

Notes: WVU's total of 197.325 marked its highest team score since March 9, 2004, as well as the squad's first total of 197.0 or higher since that same year … the Mountaineers' 49.425 on vault marked their highest total on the event since March 20, 2004, while their 49.475 on beam is WVU's highest beam score since March 9, 2004 … West Virginia's 197.325 team score marked coach Jason Butts highest team score in his 12-year tenure at WVU … Pierson's 9.925 on floor matched her career high, which she hasn't reached since March 8, 2020, when she hit the career-best mark as a freshman … the Mountaineers sit in a tie for No. 23 on floor exercise in this week's Road to Nationals rankings … West Virginia has now been ranked in the Road to Nationals floor rankings for 27 of the last 28 weeks, dating back to Jan. 25, 2021.

This Week in Golf: Four members of the golf team will compete at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, hosted by Tennessee Tech on March 12-14 … the team will return to action from March 17-19 at the Schenkel Invitational, hosted by Georgia Southern.

Last Week in Golf: Junior Jackson Davenport and freshman Westy McCabe each shot 5-under-par to lead the team at the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado, Puerto Rico … Davenport recorded rounds of 71-71-69=211 and McCabe posted rounds of 69-72-70=211 to finish tied for 24th place … sophomore Max Green shot 3-under-par with rounds of 71-69-73=213 to finish tied for 31st … senior Trent Tipton shot 2-under-par on the final day and finished with rounds of 73-76-70=219 (+3), while junior Will Stakel shot 71-78-73=222 (+6) … competing as individuals, WVU was led by junior Oli Ménard, who finished at 2-under-par in 34th place with rounds of 70-69-75=214 … sophomore Todd Duncan had rounds of 76-69-74=219 (+3), freshman Kaleb Wilson recorded rounds of 72-71-77=220 (+4) and fifth-year senior Kurtis Grant posted rounds of 74-72-76=222 (+4) … as a team, the Mountaineers finished in eighth place at 12-under-par, posting rounds of 282-288-282=852.

This Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers make their home debut this week, starting with a midweek clash against Canisius on Wednesday, March 8 at 3 p.m.… WVU remains at home for the weekend for a three-game series against Minnesota from March 10-12 … first pitch on Friday against the Golden Gophers is set for 3 p.m., Saturday for 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Last Week in Baseball: WVU went 2-1 at the Central Virginia Classic from March 4-5 … the Mountaineers took both games of a doubleheader on Saturday, defeating VCU, 8-5, and Canisius, 3-2 … on Sunday, WVU fell to Richmond, 7-3 ... against VCU, fifth-year senior Blaine Traxel threw his second consecutive complete game, striking out 10 and walking just one… He allowed five runs, four earned, in the first three innings before retiring 21 of the final 23 batters to come to the plate, with one of those batters reaching on an error… He is the only pitcher in the country with two complete games this season… He now has seven complete games for his career and is the active leader in innings pitched with 293.3, more than 30 ahead of Max Loven of North Dakota State… In game two against Canisius, junior Ben Hampton threw 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts… He did not allow a run until the eighth inning which brought his season ERA down to 2.21… Redshirt-senior Dayne Leonard broke out this weekend at the dish, hitting .400 with two home runs and six RBI… His three-run home run against VCU in the fourth inning put the Mountaineers out in front while his RBI single against Canisius in the eighth inning broke a 2-2 deadlock… Against Richmond on Sunday, redshirt-senior hit two home runs becoming the first Mountaineer with a multi-home run game this season… Sophomore JJ Wetherholt continued his torrid start to the season by hitting .417 with a home run, three runs scored, and three RBI.