WVU Volleyball (4-3) spent Friday at Hope Coliseum on the brink of two wins that never quite arrived. After beating VCU in four sets to open the invitational Thursday, the Mountaineers fell to Lehigh in the morning and Toledo at night, both in five sets. Read more: Mountaineers drop two five-setters to close West Virginia Invitational.
Morning slip against Lehigh
Lehigh won 3-2 by scores of 23-25, 25-14, 16-25, 25-23 and 15-12. West Virginia took the opener 25-23 with a late push, then lost its attacking rhythm in a 25-14 second set. The Mountain Hawks held the Mountaineers to a .000 hitting percentage. WVU answered with a 25-16 third set behind 16 kills and a .243 clip, only to drop a tight 25-23 fourth and a 15-12 fifth.
Lehigh finished with 58 kills, 27 blocks and a .253 attack percentage, in its first win over a Power Four opponent since 2018. For West Virginia, the match was a missed chance at home after controlling the first and third sets.
Night match follows the same script
Toledo won 3-2, 20-25, 25-21, 25-14, 20-25, 15-11. The Mountaineers grabbed the first set 25-20, with Nina Horning and Trinity Sheridan finishing. from Alexis Finnvold and Cassidy Bruns closed the frame with an ace and a Sheridan kill. Toledo evened it at 25-21 in the second and pulled away 25-14 in the third, as West Virginia errors piled up.
Related: Remembering Chris Gray: The Mountaineer who left a lasting impact.
WVU reset in the fourth. Horning ripped off a serving run with three aces, Sheridan and Saar Bertels kept the attack alive, and the Mountaineers closed 25-20 on consecutive Toledo errors to force a fifth set.
Fifth set slips away
The decider never settled. Anna Barr and Sheridan answered early Toledo points, Lauren Duncan added an ace, and Camille Huff helped at the net. The Rockets still found the late swings and took the fifth, 15-11, on a Jessica Costlow kill.
What stood out for WVU
Horning was the constant through both matches, attacking from the pin whenever West Virginia needed a sideout. Sheridan provided the complementary right-side punch, especially against Toledo. Finnvold and Duncan shared the setting load, while Maddy McGath, Mirjam Kask, and Huff tried to stabilize the middle. Eily Painter and Lucie Smardova handled long rallies in the back row.
Two five-set losses on the same Friday sting. On the bright side, the Mountaineers also showed they can be a team that can steal sets and force deciding frames. West Virginia leaves the invitational with unfinished business before the next non conference swing.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Action picks back up when WVU heads to the UNT Invitational in Denton, Texas.
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