MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia volleyball team suffered a 3-0 setback to Big 12 foe Texas Tech in its season opener on Thursday evening, at the United Supermarkets Arena, in Lubbock, Texas.
The Red Raiders (1-0) took the match from the Mountaineers (0-1) in set scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-22.
“I thought we had some good moments, but we were inconsistent, and that’s why we couldn’t score points,” sixth-year WVU coach Reed Sunahara said. “We have to be better than what we showed tonight, especially from a hitting standpoint. I thought our passing was decent, and I thought we got better and better every set. Hopefully, we can use that and build momentum into tomorrow.”
A pair of Mountaineers finished the match in double figures. Senior middle blocker Briana Lynch paved the way for WVU with 11 kills on 22 attacks for .500 hitting efficiency. Junior outside hitter Natali Petrova also added 10 kills in her Mountaineers debut.
Additionally, redshirt senior middle blocker Audrey Adams notched eight kills on the evening, hitting .300, followed by sophomore middle blocker Emmy Ogogor with seven swings on 14 attacks for a .357 hitting percentage. Ogogor, a transfer from Illinois State, also donned the Old Gold and Blue for the first time.
Junior setter Lacey Zerwas dished out 16 of the Mountaineers’ 31 assists.
Defensively, senior libero Alexa Hasting and freshman outside hitter/defensive specialist Skye Stokes each dug 10 balls on the evening, followed by senior defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor with nine. Adams led the squad’s blocking efforts with four total blocks, while Lynch posted a pair of solo stops.
