Kayza Massey’s Saves Earn WVU Honor; Varsity Sports Update | WVU | West Virginia Mountaineers sports coverage – Blue Gold News
After tallying a career-high five saves in a 1-1 draw at No. 12 Virginia on April 10, sophomore goalkeeper Kayza Massey of the women’s soccer team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
The Ottawa, Ontario, native kept the Mountaineers in the game all afternoon and made a 108th-minute, highlight-reel save to preserve the tie. Overall, Massey is 7-1-1 between the posts for West Virginia this season, recording 16 saves and two shutouts.
With the result, the No. 5-ranked Mountaineers (10-2-1, 7-2 Big 12) finished unbeaten in their spring slate (3-0-1). The squad now looks to the NCAA Tournament later this month. WVU has qualified for each of the last 20 NCAA Tournaments, good for the fifth-longest streak in the nation.
This Week in Women’s Soccer: The Mountaineers (10-2-1) have completed the 2020-21 regular season and await the start of the NCAA Tournament.
Last Week in Women’s Soccer: No. 5-ranked WVU earned a 1-1 draw at No. 12 Virginia on April 10, at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia … trailing, 1-0, junior midfielder Isabella Sibley scored the late equalizer in the 82nd minute to help send the match into overtime … redshirt junior forward Lauren Segalla was credited with the assist on the tally … sophomore goalkeeper Kayza Massey made a career-high five saves against the Cavaliers, none bigger than a highlight-reel, 108th-minute denial to preserve the tie … Virginia held a 12-6 advantage in shots, including 6-3 in shots on goal … the Cavaliers also held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks … of note, Sibley registered all three of the Mountaineers’ shots on goal in the contest.
Notes: Sibley’s goal was her third in as many games … following Segalla’s latest assist, she now leads the team with five on the season … the Mountaineers have qualified for each of the last 20 NCAA Tournaments, the fifth-longest streak in the nation … selections for the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday, April 19 … this year’s tournament will feature 48 teams and will be played entirely in the state of North Carolina … WVU finished unbeaten during the 2021 spring slate, finishing 3-0-1 … the Mountaineers have won at least 10 games for the 21st consecutive season … Saturday marked WVU’s third straight game against a ranked opponent … West Virginia is now 4-11-3 all-time against Virginia … WVU checked in at No. 5 in last week’s United Soccer Coaches and TopDrawerSoccer.com polls.
This Week in Track and Field: West Virginia continues its season this weekend when the team splits for competition at three different venues … the team visits Richmond, Kentucky, on Friday and Saturday, April 16-17 for the EKU Twilight meet … the team will also be competing in the Virginia Challenge on Friday and Saturday, April 16-17, in Charlottesville, Virginia … the weekend will be wrapped up with competition at the RMU Invitational in Pittsburgh, on Saturday, April 17.
Last Week in Track and Field: WVU earned two first-place finishes at the Mason Spring Invitational on April 11, at George Mason Stadium, in Fairfax, Virginia … junior Myesha won the triple jump with a distance of 12.06 meters, while redshirt junior Hayley Jackson placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.87 … junior Peter-Gay McKenzie saw action in the long jump competition when she finished second overall with a showing of 6.02 meters … from there, sophomore Erica Hegele placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.88 … additionally, freshmen Jo-Lauren Keane followed Jackson in the 800-meter run placing fifth with a time of 2:10.45, while junior Tessa Constantine placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.33 … in pole vault, redshirt freshman Sarah Stair, freshman Lydia Moell and redshirt junior Ellie all tied for fifth place with a height of 3.53 meters … to close out the night, junior Sada Wright placed fifth in the discus throw competition with a distance of 44.10 meters.
Notes: Thirteen athletes competed in nine events for WVU last weekend … the Mountaineers saw 10 top-10 finishes at the Mason Spring Invitational … sophomore Katelyn Caccamo made her outdoor debut in pole vault and placed 17th with a height of 3.23 meters.
This Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers return home for four games at Monongalia County Ballpark this week … WVU takes on in-state foe Marshall on Wednesday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. ET, before playing host to Texas Tech for a three-game weekend series from April 16-18 … first pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday’s games are scheduled for 4 p.m., and 1 p.m., respectively.
Last Week in Baseball: WVU (12-14, 4-5 Big 12) went 1-3 in four games last week … on April 6, the Mountaineers fell at No. 17 Pitt, 5-1 … West Virginia went on to drop two-of-three games at Baylor from April 9-11 … WVU fell, 6-3, in the series opener and 7-4 in the middle game, before the squad earned an 8-4 victory in the series finale … Sunday’s win snapped the club’s five-game losing streak … freshman left-handed pitcher Ben Hampton earned the win over the Bears after tossing a career-high 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts … sophomore catcher/infielder Matt McCormick homered in each of the final two games of the Baylor series, finishing the week 5-for-17 (.294) with six RBI … redshirt sophomore catcher/outfielder Vince Ippoliti led WVU with a .455 average at the plate last week … senior left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf allowed just one run on three hits in his first seven innings of work in the series opener against BU … however, the Bears’ five-run eighth inning spoiled the Mountaineer ace’s quality start.
Notes: WVU leads the all-time series over Marshall, 48-25, while Texas Tech is 14-13 all-time against the Mountaineers … West Virginia and Marshall will do battle for the second time this season … MU topped WVU, 7-1, on March 23, in Huntington … the Mountaineers and Red Raiders last met on May 25, 2019, in the Big 12 Championship Semifinals … WVU won the game, 2-0 … with Sunday’s win, WVU coach Randy Mazey earned his 250th career victory at WVU … WVU is 8-1 when leading after six innings this season … the Mountaineers also are 6-1 when hitting multiple home runs in a game in 2021 … freshman infielder Mikey Kluska continues to lead WVU offensively with a .324 average, 33 hits and 19 RBI … fifth-year senior infielder Kevin Brophy and McCormick have each socked a team-best six homers, while junior outfielder Austin Davis and sophomore outfielder Victor Scott share the team lead in stolen bases, with nine … on the mound, Wolf and Hampton co-lead the squad with three wins apiece … Wolf shows an ERA of 3.05 in 41.1 innings, while Hampton checks in at 3.10 in 20.1 innings of work.
This Week in Men’s Soccer: The Mountaineers enter their final week of the regular season with two conference contests this week … first, the squad completes its three-game road swing at Bowling Green on Wednesday, April 14 … kickoff from Cochrane Soccer Stadium is set for 3 p.m. ET … on Sunday, April 18, WVU completes the regular seasonplaying host to SIU Edwardsville on Senior Day … kickoff from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, in Morgantown, is tabbed for noon.
Last Week in Men’s Soccer: WVU split a pair of matches last week … on April 7, the Mountaineers fell in a hard-fought, double overtime battle at Akron, 3-2 … in a back-and-forth contest throughout the nearly 110 minutes of play, the Zips found the back of the net in the 108th for the golden goal and ultimate victory … a pair of Mountaineers scored against Akron, including sophomore midfielder Luke McCormick and redshirt sophomore defender Dyon Dromers … McCormick’s goal came in the 43rd minute to tie the game at 1-1 just before the half, while Dromers’ penalty kick at the 86-minute mark sent the game into overtime. … West Virginia got back on the winning side on April 11, earning a 2-0 win at Northern Illinois to complete the season sweep … the Mountaineers got on the board midway through the first half with a goal from junior forward Tony Pineda in the 25th minute … junior midfielder Ike Swiger added on an insurance goal in the 39th minute to give WVU the two-score advantage and eventual victory.
Notes: With the win over NIU, the Mountaineers completed the season sweep over the Huskies … Pineda was credited with the game-winner, his second of the season after recording the game-winning strike in WVU’s season-opening win at Charlotte on Feb. 26 … Swiger netted his fourth goal of the season against the Huskies and leads the team in goals and points (8) … senior goalkeeper Steven Tekesky recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season at Northern Illinois … the shutout also marked the 19th of his career, moving him into fourth place all-time in program history in the category … five of WVU’s six wins this season have come when recording a shutout, while WVU is 1-3 when allowing an opponent to score … West Virginia is first in the Mid-American Conference in goals allowed (6), goals against average (0.65) and shutouts (5) … freshman defender Jesus De Vicente is tied for the conference lead in assists (5), while Tekesky is first in the league in shutouts (5), shutouts per game (0.56), save percentage (0.818) and goals against average (0.65).
This Week in Golf: The West Virginia University golf team returns to action on Monday, hosting the Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia … the Mountaineer Invitational is normally held in October each year but was postponed due to COVID-19 … this will be the first time the event is being held in the spring … West Virginia will be joined by 12 other teams at Pete Dye: Appalachian State, Chattanooga, Connecticut, George Mason, George Washington, Georgia Southern, Loyola University Maryland, Marshall, Robert Morris, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky and Xavier will join the host Mountaineers at Pete Dye … the shotgun start will begin at 9 a.m. on Monday with all 13 teams scheduled to play 36 holes on Monday and then 18 holes on Tuesday, also starting at 9 a.m. … this event will consist of six golfers per team with the top four counting in team scoring for each round … fifth-year senior Etienne Papineau will make his debut for the Mountaineers this season after undergoing knee surgery last year … he will be joined by seniors Logan Perkins and Mark Goetz, junior Kurtis Grant, sophomore Trent Tipton and freshman Jackson Davenport … freshmen Will Stakel and Olivier Ménard will compete as individuals for WVU.
Last Week in Golf: WVU was idle and last competed at The Hootie at Bulls Bay on March 28-30.
Notes: This will be the sixth consecutive Mountaineer Invitational … West Virginia won the team titles in 2019 and 2018 … Bowling Green won the event in 2017, Arkansas captured the team title in 2016 and Penn State won the inaugural event in 2015.