Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Louisiana
WSU goes undefeated in season opening tournament
8/28/2016 12:41:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HOUSTON, TX – Weber State's women's volleyball team went undefeated in the Houston Marriott Westchase Invitational by picking up two victories Saturday. First taking down Houston 3-1 and then taking down Louisiana 3-1. The Wildcats are now 3-0 overall on the season.
"What a wonderful day," head coach Jeremiah Larsen said. "Not because we won, but because we competed at a high level against quality opponents.The best part is that we still have a lot of room for improvement. We learned a lot about ourselves and are looking forward to get back in the gym and turn some of our weaknesses into strengths."
Weber State started the day off on a high note by taking down Houston in four sets. The Wildcats struggled in the first set and the Cougars jumped out to an early 13-5 lead. The Wildcats couldn't catch up and fell 25-15 in the first set.
Weber State used the first set loss to propel them forward in the second set. WSU was down 10-6 but went on a 6-0 run giving them the lead for the first time in the entire game. The Wildcats kept pushing and eventually took an 18-13 lead. Weber State finished the second set on a 4-0 run to win 25-19.
The third set against the Cougars started out similar to the second but the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run late in the set to give them the edge as they went on to win 25-18. Weber State had a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set.
Houston went on a 5-0 run half way through the final set of the match tying the score up at 13-13. The two teams then went and matched point for point for the rest of the set until a kill by freshman Rylin Roberts and a Cougar error finally gave the Wildcats the 28-26 victory.
Against Houston, junior Amanda Varley came up big with 19 kills and 36 attacks for a .444 hitting percentage. Roberts had her first collegiate double double as she put up 11 kills and 12 digs. Taylor Kinikini had her second double double of the tournament putting up 41 assists and 10 digs. Two other Wildcats had double figure digs, Jesse Hover had the match high of 19 while Ciera Borho had 13.
The Wildcats were rolling on a competitive high with two victories under their belt as they went up against Louisiana.
The first set against the Ragin' Cajun was a close one. The score was tied at 16-16 as both teams matched each other in scoring until two Louisiana errors gave Weber State the 27-25 first set victory. The Wildcats had 16 kills and only four errors in the first set.
The second set of play was similar to the first with a tie score at 17-17 and a fight to the end. This time however it didn't work in favor of the Wildcats as they fell 27-25 in the second set tying things up going into the half time break.
Weber State showed no mercy the rest of the match as they won the third set 25-21 and the fourth set 25-18.
Freshman Megan Gneiting had the match high of kills with 14 and a hitting percentage of .500. Varley also had double figure kills for the third consecutive game with 13. Kinikini had a season high of 47 assists. Hover also stepped up again with 19 digs. Megan Thompson came up big on the nets as she had 11 blocks against the Ragin' Cajun. Weber State out blocked Louisiana 28-12. WSU also had a .281 overall hitting percentage on the match compared to Louisiana's .169.
Weber State is now 3-0 overall on the season and will have a weekend off from competition before hitting the road to Fullerton, California for the Titan Classic at CS Fullerton. Big Sky play starts Sept. 23 with the first home game of the season.
