Montgomery Leads Mountaineers in Season-Opening Win
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (August 28, 2015) – Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Montgomery had a team-best 16 kills and the match-winning service ace as the West Virginia volleyball team started the Reed Sunahara era off with a 3-2 win over Oakland at the Michigan Invitational at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor on Friday.
Montgomery, who played in just 25 sets for the Mountaineers as a freshman, surpassed her prior career high of 13 kills and registered the first three aces of her career. Senior middle blocker Caleah Wells also set a career-best with 14 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Mia Swanegan had 13 kills and a team-high four blocks in her WVU debut, while junior middle blocker Hannah Shreve had a pair of blocks and a team-best .500 hitting percentage. Freshman Bridgett Talia also finished the day in double digits with 12 kills, hitting .385.
Senior setter Brittany sample had 48 assists and 15 digs along with a pair of aces. Sophomore libero Gianna Gotterba dug a team-high 18 balls, adding in five assists. The Mountaineers hit .297 with 62 kills to the Golden Grizzlies’ 58 kills and .218 attacking percentage. WVU also out-blocked Oakland, 6-5.
“It was a good win over an NCAA Tournament team,” said coach Reed Sunahara, who registered his first win as head coach of the Mountaineers. “It was a tough battle and I think we responded well. It showed some things we need to work on, but overall I was impressed with our perseverance.”
Swanegan hit a blazing .571 with four kills and three blocks to lead WVU in set one, while Wells added a four of kills. The Mountaineers took a 5-1 lead off back-to-back attacking errors by Oakland before the Golden Grizzlies stormed back to tie the match 5-5. A 4-0 run by West Virginia included kills from Talia and Swanegan, putting WVU back in front by a score of 9-5. A 5-0 streak led by a pair of Swanegan kills pushed the Mountaineers in front 20-15, and they didn’t look back from there. A pair of kills from Talia helped set up set-point before Wells put one through the pins for the 25-20 win.
Montgomery emerged as the hitting leader in set two, putting down seven kills in that stanza and hitting .375. A pair of Sample aces led the Mountaineers on a 5-0 run for an 11-6 advantage early in set two. WVU rattled off four more in a row, including a kill by Talia to make it 16-9 before a seven-point streak by Oakland tied the set, 19-19. The teams traded points before Talia and Wells closed things out once again, each with a kill as the Mountaineers took the second set 27-25 for the 2-0 lead.
Hitting just .176 as a team in set three, the Mountaineers found themselves on the wrong end of the 17-9 score after five errors. A pair of Oakland errors, combined with kills from Talia and Shreve, cut the deficit to five at 22-17, but the Golden Grizzlies took three of the last four points. They took the set 25-18 on a WVU service error.
The Mountaineers hit .208 in the fourth set behind five kills by Wells, but couldn’t overcome Oakland’s 14 kills. OU’s Cassie Pelloni had a trio of kills on a 6-0 run as WVU trailed 13-6. Shreve and Wells found the floor but the Mountaineers couldn’t overcome the deficit with four WVU miscues and a kill by Oakland gave the Golden Grizzlies the 25-16 win to tie the match 2-2.
Swanegan’s three kills led the way in a closely battled set five. The squads traded points for most of the set, as Oakland tied things up 7-7 before West Virginia knotted the score at 9-9. The Mountaineers took three straight to set up match-point on kills by Swanegan and Shreve. Montgomery’s third ace of the day would give WVU the 15-11 win as they took the match 3-2.
West Virginia will take on George Washington at 11 a.m. Saturday morning before finishing out the tournament at 7:30 p.m. against host Michigan.
Follow @WVUSports and @WVUVolleyball on Twitter
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (August 28, 2015) – Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Montgomery had a team-best 16 kills and the match-winning service ace as the West Virginia volleyball team started the Reed Sunahara era off with a 3-2 win over Oakland at the Michigan Invitational at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor on Friday.
Montgomery, who played in just 25 sets for the Mountaineers as a freshman, surpassed her prior career high of 13 kills and registered the first three aces of her career. Senior middle blocker Caleah Wells also set a career-best with 14 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Mia Swanegan had 13 kills and a team-high four blocks in her WVU debut, while junior middle blocker Hannah Shreve had a pair of blocks and a team-best .500 hitting percentage. Freshman Bridgett Talia also finished the day in double digits with 12 kills, hitting .385.
Senior setter Brittany sample had 48 assists and 15 digs along with a pair of aces. Sophomore libero Gianna Gotterba dug a team-high 18 balls, adding in five assists. The Mountaineers hit .297 with 62 kills to the Golden Grizzlies’ 58 kills and .218 attacking percentage. WVU also out-blocked Oakland, 6-5.
“It was a good win over an NCAA Tournament team,” said coach Reed Sunahara, who registered his first win as head coach of the Mountaineers. “It was a tough battle and I think we responded well. It showed some things we need to work on, but overall I was impressed with our perseverance.”
Swanegan hit a blazing .571 with four kills and three blocks to lead WVU in set one, while Wells added a four of kills. The Mountaineers took a 5-1 lead off back-to-back attacking errors by Oakland before the Golden Grizzlies stormed back to tie the match 5-5. A 4-0 run by West Virginia included kills from Talia and Swanegan, putting WVU back in front by a score of 9-5. A 5-0 streak led by a pair of Swanegan kills pushed the Mountaineers in front 20-15, and they didn’t look back from there. A pair of kills from Talia helped set up set-point before Wells put one through the pins for the 25-20 win.
Montgomery emerged as the hitting leader in set two, putting down seven kills in that stanza and hitting .375. A pair of Sample aces led the Mountaineers on a 5-0 run for an 11-6 advantage early in set two. WVU rattled off four more in a row, including a kill by Talia to make it 16-9 before a seven-point streak by Oakland tied the set, 19-19. The teams traded points before Talia and Wells closed things out once again, each with a kill as the Mountaineers took the second set 27-25 for the 2-0 lead.
Hitting just .176 as a team in set three, the Mountaineers found themselves on the wrong end of the 17-9 score after five errors. A pair of Oakland errors, combined with kills from Talia and Shreve, cut the deficit to five at 22-17, but the Golden Grizzlies took three of the last four points. They took the set 25-18 on a WVU service error.
The Mountaineers hit .208 in the fourth set behind five kills by Wells, but couldn’t overcome Oakland’s 14 kills. OU’s Cassie Pelloni had a trio of kills on a 6-0 run as WVU trailed 13-6. Shreve and Wells found the floor but the Mountaineers couldn’t overcome the deficit with four WVU miscues and a kill by Oakland gave the Golden Grizzlies the 25-16 win to tie the match 2-2.
Swanegan’s three kills led the way in a closely battled set five. The squads traded points for most of the set, as Oakland tied things up 7-7 before West Virginia knotted the score at 9-9. The Mountaineers took three straight to set up match-point on kills by Swanegan and Shreve. Montgomery’s third ace of the day would give WVU the 15-11 win as they took the match 3-2.
West Virginia will take on George Washington at 11 a.m. Saturday morning before finishing out the tournament at 7:30 p.m. against host Michigan.
Follow @WVUSports and @WVUVolleyball on Twitter
