The Mountaineers won their first game of the season, 3-1, over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Nina Horning led the way with 17.5 points and 17 kills. Anna Barr followed with 16 points and 13 kills. They committed eight errors in the third set, the only set they lost. They had at least 12 kills in each set. The next volleyball match is UMBC on Sunday, August 30, at 12 p.m. Eastern at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown. Read more: Nina Horning leads the Mountaineers to a win in season opener.
First set
The first serve of the 2026 season went the Mountaineers’ way. Alexis Finnvold served, and Mirjam Karoliine Kask and Barr picked up the block assists on the error by Soukeyna Diouf of the Vaqueros. The Mountaineers picked up the first three points of the first set, until a service error made it 3-1. The Vaqueros tied it up at three and eventually took the lead, 7-5, with an ace from Celianiz Cabranes.
WVU battled back to tie it at 11 thanks to a kill by Macie Smith. They finished on a 12-2 run to end the first. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley had six errors during that run, while WVU had six kills. The Mountaineers took the first set, 25-14.
Second set
The second set went back and forth at the beginning, much like the first. Maddy McGath gave WVU a 7-5 lead with an ace, and Martina Franco brought UTRGV within one with a kill on the following volley. The Mountaineers never looked back for the remainder of the set.
Related: Jen Greeny “hopeful” for the WVU Volleyball season ahead
They extended their lead to 15-9 before the media timeout. That run occurred with five kills and an ace by Lauren Duncan before the media timeout. Horning led with seven kills at the stoppage.
The rest of the set was much the same for WVU. UTRGV rattled off four consecutive points in the midst of the set to make it 17-14. They brought the deficit to three again at 20-17, but WVU put them away. The Mountaineers won five of the next six points to win the set, 25-18.
Third set
WVU faced its first adversity of the season in the third set. They took a 3-0 lead, with kills from Barr and Macie Smith, but quickly lost the lead. The Vaqueros took a 4-3 lead off an ace from Lana Rnjak and quickly extended it to 5- 3. The Mountaineers tied it up at eight and did not get any closer.
The Vaqueros used three consecutive kills from Aaliyah Snead, Rnjak, and Ema Petkovic to extend their lead to 14-10. West Virginia battled back thanks to two consecutive kills from Barr, which made it 15-14. Errors plagued the Mountaineers in set three, as they had eight. They only had five total in the first two sets.
Anna Barr back-to-back 💪#HailWV pic.twitter.com/ypoXHVXHwj
— WVU Volleyball (@WVUVolleyball) August 28, 2026
The Mountaineers tied it again at 22, but lost the next two points. Barr earned another kill to pull within one, but Julianna Bryant closed the set for the Vaqueros with a kill. UTRGV won the set, 25-23.
Fourth set
The fourth set was tightly contested before a UTRGV timeout. The Vaqueros had a 6-5 lead following an attack error from Saar Bertels. The Mountaineers won four consecutive points to prompt the timeout. Bertels immediately made up the error with a kill, and Finnvold followed with an ace. Two attack errors from UTRGV made it 9-6 for the Mountaineers.
Related: Michael Hawkins expected to be West Virginia’s starting quarterback
The Vaqueros responded well to the timeout. They got within two on three separate occasions before drawing even closer at 12-11. Horning and Trinity Sheridan had two kills to extend WVU’s lead back to 14-11. UTRGV got within two again at 17-15 after a service error from Finnvold. That was the end of any hope they had in the match.
The Mountaineers won four consecutive points. After the third point, the Vaqueros called a timeout. Bertels came out of the break with an ace to extend the lead to 21-15. A Horning kill made it 23-17. A service error from Franco brought it to match point, and WVU won on an attack error. They won the fourth and final set, 25-18.
Stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for more WVU Athletics coverage by downloading the WV Sports Nation app.
