MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) opened its 50^th year with a victory, 3-1 over Navy on Friday evening at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with scores of 25-16, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-18.
 
The win marked head coach Jen's Greeny first victory as a Mountaineer, making her career record 348-199 (.636).
 
"I am very proud of our team for getting this first win," said WVU coach Jen Greeny. "We battled hard, and it was great to see a lot of people contribute."
 
The Mountaineers collected 47 kills on a .252 hitting percentage, holding Navy to just a .091 clip. West Virginia bested Navy with 40 digs, 18 service aces and 13 total blocks.
 
It was a career night for redshirt junior Cassidy Tanton after collecting five career highs with 14 kills on a .323 clip, 21.5 points, six service aces, 10 digs and three total blocks.
 
Additionally, junior outside hitter Quincey Coyle contributed a career best of 14 kills paired with nine digs and two service aces. Sophomore setter Alexis Finnvold laminated a career best as well with 30 assists and six aces.
 
On the defensive end, graduate student libero collected a career high of nine digs while sophomore middle blocker and junior middle blocker Laila Ibrahim dished six total blocks each, respectively.
 
The Mountaineers were hot out the gate in set one taking an early, 4-1 lead after an ace from Tanton. A 4-0 run at the halfway point edged the Mountaineers advantage as points rained in from Coyle. WVU shut down the Navy offense, leaving them scoreless after five consecutive points, 23-13. A service ace from Tanton is all it took to grab the first set for West Virginia, 25-16.
 
In set two, both sides traded points until the score was tied at eight a piece, a pair of points from Coyle and Tanton gave the Mountaineers the 12-10 advantage at the halfway point. Back-to-back 3-0 runs from West Virginia left Navy down, 22-17. A kill from Ibrahim along with a Navy error secured set two, 25-18 for WVU.
 
West Virginia trailed early, 6-2 in the third set as Navy held the lead until an ace from Tanton tied the score at eleven. The Mountaineers only led once throughout the set, after a Navy attack error, 17-16. A late 4-0 WVU run looked to clinch the match for the Mountaineers, before Navy clamped down to take set three, 25-22.
 
WVU took an early lead once again in the fourth set, with a 7-4 advantage after a service ace from graduate student setter Lauren DeLo. After a 7-0 scoring run from Navy, the Mountaineers clapped back with five unanswered points to take a 12-11 lead. West Virginia outscored Navy 13-5 throughout the remainder of the match. An ace from Tanton sealed the 3-1 victory for WVU.
 
The Mountaineers will face off against tournament host Wake Forest on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, inside Reynold Gym. Saturday's match will be streamed live on ACCNX+, while live stats are available at wvusports.com.
 
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