MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team swept the Navy in the final game of the Navy Tournament Saturday night at Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis, Maryland. The Mountaineers (5-0) defeated the Mids (3-3) in scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-19.
After a showdown at the 2019 Mountaineer Invitational, WVU faced host Navy for the fifth time in the show's history on Saturday. The Mountaineers now have a 5-0 series record over the Mids.
"I think we played well against two really good teams this weekend," said coach Reed Sunahara . "It was a defensive battle tonight. We knew they would win us all the points. It was a good victory. We have a lot of work to do to move forward."
Fifth-year middle blocker Briana Lynch recorded 15 kills, one less than her season high, while also recording five blocks. Senior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting recorded 15 attacks, and senior point guard Lacey Zerwas recorded 29 assists and five attacks.
Senior outside attackers Kristin Lux and Natali Petrova each recorded six deaths and two blockades each against the Navy. The blocks were a season record for Petrova and tied Lux's season high.
To sum up the Mountaineer statistics for the night, fifth-year setter Adrian Ell recorded seven deaths, along with six digs to tie his peak season.
The Mountaineers scored 40 kills for a .267 hitting efficiency, along with six team blocks in the victory. The Mids had 24 kills for an efficiency of .056 and five team blocks. Notably, Avery Stowell led the Navy offensive with 10 kills.
The Navy took the first point, but WVU followed up with a few scoring runs to take the lead. The teams traded points in the middle of the set, but the Mountaineers made another scoring run to extend their lead, 23-14. Navy couldn't keep up and WVU won the first set, 25-15.
After a victory in the first set, WVU opened the second set with a 3-0 scoring run. Navy retaliated with a 3-0 streak of its own to tie the game. A blocking assist from Petrova and a kill from Lynch extended the Mountaineers' lead to 9-4 and forced a time out for the Navy. After the timeout, WVU went on a 3-0 run to take a seven-point lead (11-4). After alternating points, the Mids went on a 3-0 scoring run to cut the Mountaineer lead to 14-10. Navy used another timeout to his advantage and went on a 3-0 (18-14) scoring streak. A WVU scoring streak eventually gave West Virginia the second set with a score of 25-19.
Lynch opened the set with a kill, but Navy followed up with a 3-0 scoring run for take an early advantage. WVU pursued a career of its own, leading to a time out of the Navy. The Mountaineers continued their scoring streak after the timeout. However, Navy snapped the streak to 11-0. WVU reached set and match point, but Navy made a 6-0 run to bring the score to 24-19. An error in Navy duty led to the Mountaineer's victory in the third set at 25-19 for another West Virginia sweep.
Going forward, the Mountaineers will travel to Buffalo, New York, to a two-day tournament from September 10-11. West Virginia will face American on Friday, September 10 at noon ET, followed by co-host Canisius on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. The team will close out the tournament with a match against co-host Buffalo on Saturday, September 11 at 10 am
To learn more about the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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