Montgomery Leads WVU Past Marshall
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 15, 2015) – A career-high 31 kills by Morgan Montgomery and a four-set rally led the West Virginia University volleyball team to a 3-2 win over in-state rival Marshall in the Mountaineers’ home opener at the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday evening. WVU took the match in set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 26-24 and 15-9.
The win was West Virginia’s first over Marshall since 2010, and put the Golden Ball Trophy back in Morgantown for the first time since then. The Thundering Herd had taken the previous four meetings.
It was an exciting finish, as the Mountaineers (3-6) were just two points away from defeat in the fourth set, but used an 8-3 really claim the set in a 26-24 win and force a decisive fifth set. WVU lead the fifth set 8-3 before the Herd stormed back to cut the deficit to just one at 9-8. However, the Mountaineers were relentless used a 6-0 run, capped by a Haley Roe service ace, for the win.
“I thought we did a nice job tonight,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara, who made his WVU Coliseum debut after taking over the team in March. “We never gave up. Our girls are resilient, and they fought and fought until they came out on top. I’m proud of them for doing that.”
Montgomery, who had 38 total kills in 2014, hit for a .308 clip and registered 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She was one of three Mountaineers in double figures as Caleah Wells set a personal best with 17 kills and Mia Swanegan notched 11 in the match. Abby Brown and Hannah Shreve each had three.
Brittany Sample was just shy of her career high, posting a season-best 59 assists on the Mountaineers’ 68 kills. She just missed a double-double with nine digs and added a trio of blocks as well. Shreve led the blocking effort with four, while Wells added three and Montgomery and Swanegan each registered a pair. Libero Gianna Gotterba led the floor defense with 21 digs, with Melvina Brown adding nine and Roe notching seven.
The Mountaineers hit for a .176 clip as a team with four aces and 8.0 team blocks. The Herd finished with 53 kills on .191 hitting and 11.0 team blocks.
Montgomery had four kills in the first set to lead the Mountaineers, who hit .100 with 11 kills and a block. Marshall had 11 kills as well, but took advantage of eight WVU miscues in taking the set. A pair of Wells kills helped WVU tie the set 9-9 on a Marshall attacking error. The teams traded points before a kill by Swanegan gave WVU the 14-12 lead. The momentum then swung to the Thundering Herd, who took three in a row for an 18-17 lead on a kill. WVU re-gained the lead, 19-18, on a pair of Marshall errors but the Thundering Herd closed the set on a 3-0 run for the 25-20 win.
The Mountaineers rebounded in the second set, hitting .244 with six kills from Montgomery and Wells. West Virginia tied the set, 14-14, before Marshall returned the favor at 17-17. A Montgomery kill put the Mountaineers ahead 21-19 but the Thundering Herd evened the score with a kill, 21-21. The teams battled to a 23-23 tie before Swanegan put one through the pins and a Marshall attack went out of bounds to give WVU the 25-23 win and tie the match, 1-1.
Despite 13 WVU kills in the third, Marshall used 11 kills and committed just three errors in winning the third set, 25-22. The Herd took a 13-9 advantage midway through the stanza before rattling off three in a row to push their lead to 22-16. WVU came within three on a block by Sample and Shreve, but Marshall took two of the last three points to claim the win and take a 2-1 lead.
Montgomery continued her stellar performance into the fourth set, firing off 10 kills as WVU hit .220 with a pair of team blocks. Marshall used a 6-0 run midway through to take an 18-13 lead and later took five in a row to put the score at 23-18. A kill put the Herd at set-point with a 24-21 lead, but Sample added a kill and Montgomery notched three for the 26-24 win, forcing a fifth set with the match tied 2-2.
The Mountaineers carried the momentum forward, racing to a 5-1 lead before a pair of Marshall miscues made it 8-3. The Herd used a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to one before West Virginia rattled off six straight, earning the 15-9 win on the ace from Roe.
West Virginia travels to Rock Hill, South Carolina, this weekend for the Winthrop Invitational. The Mountaineers will face the host Eagles on Friday in a 6 p.m. match at Winthrop Coliseum before taking on Davidson at 10 a.m. Saturday and closing things out against Murray State at 4:30 p.m.
Follow @WVUSports and @WVUVolleyball on Twitter
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 15, 2015) – A career-high 31 kills by Morgan Montgomery and a four-set rally led the West Virginia University volleyball team to a 3-2 win over in-state rival Marshall in the Mountaineers’ home opener at the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday evening. WVU took the match in set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 26-24 and 15-9.
The win was West Virginia’s first over Marshall since 2010, and put the Golden Ball Trophy back in Morgantown for the first time since then. The Thundering Herd had taken the previous four meetings.
It was an exciting finish, as the Mountaineers (3-6) were just two points away from defeat in the fourth set, but used an 8-3 really claim the set in a 26-24 win and force a decisive fifth set. WVU lead the fifth set 8-3 before the Herd stormed back to cut the deficit to just one at 9-8. However, the Mountaineers were relentless used a 6-0 run, capped by a Haley Roe service ace, for the win.
“I thought we did a nice job tonight,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara, who made his WVU Coliseum debut after taking over the team in March. “We never gave up. Our girls are resilient, and they fought and fought until they came out on top. I’m proud of them for doing that.”
Montgomery, who had 38 total kills in 2014, hit for a .308 clip and registered 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She was one of three Mountaineers in double figures as Caleah Wells set a personal best with 17 kills and Mia Swanegan notched 11 in the match. Abby Brown and Hannah Shreve each had three.
Brittany Sample was just shy of her career high, posting a season-best 59 assists on the Mountaineers’ 68 kills. She just missed a double-double with nine digs and added a trio of blocks as well. Shreve led the blocking effort with four, while Wells added three and Montgomery and Swanegan each registered a pair. Libero Gianna Gotterba led the floor defense with 21 digs, with Melvina Brown adding nine and Roe notching seven.
The Mountaineers hit for a .176 clip as a team with four aces and 8.0 team blocks. The Herd finished with 53 kills on .191 hitting and 11.0 team blocks.
Montgomery had four kills in the first set to lead the Mountaineers, who hit .100 with 11 kills and a block. Marshall had 11 kills as well, but took advantage of eight WVU miscues in taking the set. A pair of Wells kills helped WVU tie the set 9-9 on a Marshall attacking error. The teams traded points before a kill by Swanegan gave WVU the 14-12 lead. The momentum then swung to the Thundering Herd, who took three in a row for an 18-17 lead on a kill. WVU re-gained the lead, 19-18, on a pair of Marshall errors but the Thundering Herd closed the set on a 3-0 run for the 25-20 win.
The Mountaineers rebounded in the second set, hitting .244 with six kills from Montgomery and Wells. West Virginia tied the set, 14-14, before Marshall returned the favor at 17-17. A Montgomery kill put the Mountaineers ahead 21-19 but the Thundering Herd evened the score with a kill, 21-21. The teams battled to a 23-23 tie before Swanegan put one through the pins and a Marshall attack went out of bounds to give WVU the 25-23 win and tie the match, 1-1.
Despite 13 WVU kills in the third, Marshall used 11 kills and committed just three errors in winning the third set, 25-22. The Herd took a 13-9 advantage midway through the stanza before rattling off three in a row to push their lead to 22-16. WVU came within three on a block by Sample and Shreve, but Marshall took two of the last three points to claim the win and take a 2-1 lead.
Montgomery continued her stellar performance into the fourth set, firing off 10 kills as WVU hit .220 with a pair of team blocks. Marshall used a 6-0 run midway through to take an 18-13 lead and later took five in a row to put the score at 23-18. A kill put the Herd at set-point with a 24-21 lead, but Sample added a kill and Montgomery notched three for the 26-24 win, forcing a fifth set with the match tied 2-2.
The Mountaineers carried the momentum forward, racing to a 5-1 lead before a pair of Marshall miscues made it 8-3. The Herd used a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to one before West Virginia rattled off six straight, earning the 15-9 win on the ace from Roe.
West Virginia travels to Rock Hill, South Carolina, this weekend for the Winthrop Invitational. The Mountaineers will face the host Eagles on Friday in a 6 p.m. match at Winthrop Coliseum before taking on Davidson at 10 a.m. Saturday and closing things out against Murray State at 4:30 p.m.
Follow @WVUSports and @WVUVolleyball on Twitter
