Despite falling to St. Johns Sunday afternoon, the West Virginia volleyball team is still alive in its hunt for a birth in the Big East Conference Tournament thanks to a 3-1 win over Connecticut Friday.
The Mountaineers (14-12, 4-7 Big East) are currently eleventh in the Big East standings.
The top eight teams qualify for the tournament.
Five teams currently are vying for the final two spots in the tournament, but West Virginia needs to win its remaining three Big East matches to make the field.
"We still have a good chance to get into the Big East Tournament," said WVU head coach Veronica Hammersmith. "We need to win out, especially against Villanova.
"The fact that we’ve already beat Marquette and Connecticut is good for us. If we win out we have a pretty good chance to get in."
West Virginia was able to win a critical match against Connecticut (12-14, 5-5 Big East) Friday in four sets (25-15, 24-26, 27-25, 25-22).
"We were real happy to beat them," Hammersmith said. "They’ve always been a tough team for us to beat, especially at their place.
"It was a big win for us and big for our conference record."
The Huskies held a 7-5 lead in the first set until a service ace from sophomore outside hitter Kylie Armbruster would ignite a 15-0 Mountaineer run that would put the set in West Virginia’s hands.
The 15-0 run is the longest of the season for the Mountaineers.
After Connecticut took the second set, the Huskies grabbed an early 5-0 lead in the third set.
The two teams went back and forth for the duration of the game until the game was tied 24-24 when the Mountaineers outscored the Huskies 3-1 to take a the set 27-25.
West Virginia closed out the fourth set to beat Connecticut on the road.
Kristina Gallahan led the team with a season-high 18 kills and a .255 hitting percentage, while Armbruster also posted nine kills.
"The serving by Kylie (Armbruster) in the first round was really big for us," Hammersmith said. "We hadn’t had a run like that in a long time."
Sunday’s match against St. Johns (9-17, 2-8) would prove to be a bump in the road for West Virginia as it fell in four tight sets (25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 25-25).
Hammersmith said there was a lot to take away from both matches remains hopeful that it will pay off in West Virginia’s remaining three Big East contests.
"We’re going to try to beat everyone we play," Hammersmith said. "We’re not going to let up; we’re going to keep trying to win as many matches as we can."
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