Mountaineers Travel to Houston for Second Meeting of the Season

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team (12-10, 5-7 Big 12) travels to Houston, Texas, for a rematch with the Cougars on Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Fertitta Center. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Mountaineers are coming off a four-set victory over No. 25 Colorado on Sunday afternoon at Hope Coliseum, matching the program's single-season record with their second ranked win of the season. WVU defeated the Buffaloes, 3-1, by set scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-17 and 25-11.

Houston (13-11, 6-7 Big 12) won in the first matchup on Oct. 4 in Morgantown. WVU fell in four sets by scores of 25-21, 17-25, 20-25 and 23-25. Since then, the Cougars have gone 3-6 and sit two spots ahead of the Mountaineers at No. 9 in the conference.

Heading into Thursday's match, West Virginia ranks No. 12 in the Big 12 in assists per set and kills per set. Senior outside hitter Nina Horning leads the Mountaineers with 3.29 kills per set, which ranks No. 18 in the league. Freshman setter Lauren Duncan ranks No. 10 In the Big 12 in aces per set with 0.37.

Defensively, WVU ranks No. 8 in the Big 12 in blocks per set and No. 13 in digs per set. Freshman defensive specialist/libero Reagan Turk leads the Mountaineers with 320 digs, while senior middle blocker Maddy McGath ranks No. 14 in the league with a team-best 1.04 blocks per set.

Turk ranks No. 1 among Big 12 freshmen and No. 6 among Power Four freshmen in total digs. She also is No. 5 on WVU's freshman season total digs list.

Houston's last time out resulted in two sweeps against No. 16 TCU at home and UCF on the road. The UCF match marked the third sweep in a row for the Cougars.

The Cougars are ranked No. 6 in the conference in kills per set with 13.45. They are led by junior outside hitter Sydney Jones, who ranks No. 25 nationally and No. 5 in the Big 12 with 4.30 kills per set. Houston is No. 6 in the league in assists per set at 12.47, while recording the second-most total assists. It is the conference's fourth-best team from the service line, averaging 1.60 aces per set.

Defensively, the Cougars come in at No. 14 in the Big 12 for blocks per set and No. 7 in digs per set. Sophomore middle blocker Tara Greensberry leads the team with 0.81 blocks per set and sophomore libero Mattie Casale anchors the back row with 2.87 digs per set.

Thursday's match marks the eighth all-time meeting between West Virginia and Houston. The Cougars lead the series, 6-1, which dates back to 1987. WVU head coach Jen Greeny is 1-2 against Houston.

Houston coach David Rehr is in his eighth season with the Cougars, compiling a 137-91 record at Houston and 677-234 over 25 years of collegiate coaching. In three meetings with Greeny, Rehr is 1-2.

The match will be available on ESPN+, and fans can follow live stats on WVUsports.com.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUVolleyball on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Duncan

Nina Horning

Maddy McGath

Reagan Turk

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