Mountain Momma Monday: November 12

To this point in our history, HailWV.com has almost exclusively covered football and men’s basketball. We have not done a good job at keeping our fans engaged with the female sports on campus.

To rectify this, we will be bringing you weekly updates on all our the WVU women’s sports. This piece will recap what has happened in the week of women’s sport and highlight some of the upcoming events.

We will call our new weekly staple Mountain Momma Monday.

Basketball:

Mar 17, 2012; Norfolk, VA, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Christal Caldwell (1) drives to the basket against the Texas Longhorns during the first half in the first round of the 2012 NCAA women

Mike Carey’s squad opened regular season play in the house that the Logo built (aka West Virginia Coliseum) against the Seahawks of UNC-Wilmington. The Mountaineers started their 2012-13 season off with a big win over a solid team, 76-47. Coach Carey used this game to get plenty of experience for his team, playing 13 players (9 of which got 10+ minutes of action).

As expected, Christal Caldwell led WVU in scoring with 21 points. Ayana Dunning led WVU in rebounding with 10 boards and playing a major role in WVU’s rebounding margin of 49-36. As a team, WVU shot 39.7% from the field with 30.8% from three point range. Defensively, the Mountaineers played some terrific defense, holding the Seahawks to 28.0% shooting with 15.0% from three point range.

The lady hoop stars are back in action tonight on the road against Boston University. Tip-off is set for 7 PM. West Virginia returns to play a home game Saturday November 17 against South Carolina Upstate with a 1 PM start time.

Cross-Country:

West Virginia had a strong showing in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic regional this past Friday in State College, PA. The Mountaineers squad sent seven ladies into the field of competition, led by senior Sarah-Anne Brault. The cross-country squad ran well, combining to take 5th place out of 31 squads.

Brault finished 7th overall with a time of 20:35, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Cross-Country Championships. She will compete for the championship, for the third year in a row, on Saturday November 17 in Louisville, KY. Start time is set for noon.

Three Mountaineers earned All-Region honors: senior Sarah-Anne Brault, freshman Kelly Williams, and freshman Sydney Scott.

Rowing:

The WVU rowing team finished their fall slate with a 5 medal day in the Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta this past Saturday in Cherry Hill, NJ. The ladies showed well in the women’s open doubles competition with 1st, 2nd, and 4th place finishes.

The ladies also racked up a first place medal in the novice 8+ first flight while their B crew finished 4th in the novice 8+. In varsity 8+ competition, the A crew finished second in the top flight while the B crew finished third in their flight.

In 4+ competition, the Mountaineers also had strong showings. The Mountianeers fielded three crews in the novice 4+ competitions: A crew finishing first in their flight, B crew winding up second in their flight, and the C crew taking third in their flight. The varsity 4+ competition was even stronger with: A crew taking first in their flight, B crew also snagging first in their flight, and the C crew just missing the hat trick with a second place finish.

Soccer:

After taking home a Big XII regular season title, the Mountaineers got upset in the first round of the Big XII Championship by TCU on Halloween. The Horned Frogs took advantage of a slow start by WVU, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute of the game. West Virginia responded with a flurry of shots the remainder of the half, but TCU held strong, thwarting WVU’s comeback bid. TCU would go on to take down WVU by a 2-0 margin.

In the NCAA Championships this past Saturday, the lady Mountianeers fell short against upset-minded Princeton. The Mountaineers once again got off to a slow start, allowing the Tigers to pull out to a 2-0 lead at the 59th minute mark. West Virginia put on a late rally, closing the gap to 2-1, but ultimately, could not get anymore shots behind GK Pinciaro.

West Virginia will have to be content with finishing in the Top 25 (presumable since they entered the tournament at #16) and an undefeated Big XII regular season title.

Swimming:

The West Virginia swim team was on a bye week this past Saturday after taking down an early road win at Cincinnati, 163-137. The win moves the team record to 3-1 on the season.

The swim team will be back in action this weekend, 16-18 November in the Pitt Invitational. West Virginia will get to take on regional schools such as Pitt and Fairmont State.

Volleyball:

The volleyball team fell to 8-19 (0-13 in Big XII) on the season with a road loss at home against Baylor this past Saturday. The Mountaineers fought hard in the first set, pushing Baylor to end for a narrow 23-25 loss in the first set. From that point on, Baylor would take the second and third sets in style 25-12 and 25-16.

West Virginia fell behind by a large margin in the second set, 14-6. The Mountaineers could not find a way to break Baylor’s potent attack, ultimately falling 12-25 in the second set. WVU faired better in the third set, fighting the Bears to a 14-14 tie late in the third set. West Virginia made a few mistakes that Baylor took advantage of in route to a 25-16 win in the third and final set.

West Virginia had solid performances by several women during this match. Freshman Caleah Wells and Elzbieta Klein led the team with 7 kills while freshman Anna Panagiotakopoulos recorded 14 digs.

The Mountaineers continue their quest for their first Big XII victory with a road contest against #3 Texas on Saturday November 17.