Percival went 3-1 and scored her
most impressive
victory of the
season against
Duquesne this
past week.
Percival defeated Williams at No. 1
singles, 7-5, 6-3, to drop the five-time
Atlantic 10 rookie of the week winner
to 24-3 in singles play. The Aiken,
S.C., native also won twice on
Saturday against Presbyterian. She
defeated Brittany Lanford, 6-2, 7-6,
and then teamed with fellow senior
Natalia Prinz to beat Diminich-Lanford
at No. 1 doubles, 8-7 (11-9). Percival
is now two wins shy of 100 career
victories and is 19-17 overall this
season.
She has overcome a rough start to
the season at No. 1 singles to reach a
.500 record, surging late in the season
when the team has needed her most.
This Week in Tennis
The West Virginia University tennis team finishes up its
regular season with four matches on the road … WVU begins
with a non-conference match against the University of Maryland
Baltimore County on Monday, April 7, at 3 p.m. … the
Mountaineers then face three BIG EAST opponents
consecutively starting on Friday, April 11 … the conference
slate begins with a match at Villanova on Friday at 2 p.m. … on
Saturday WVU plays Connecticut at 3 p.m. … the Mountaineers
finish the regular season on Sunday against Rutgers at noon.
Last Week in Tennis
The Mountaineers (12-6, 2-1 BIG EAST) went 1-1 during
the week as they defeated Presbyterian on Saturday, 7-0, and
lost to Duquesne on Monday, 4-3 … seniors Stacey Percival,
Monica Lyskawa and Natalia Prinz each led WVU with three
victories apiece in the two matches … the Mountaineers swept
Presbyterian in all six singles matches as well as the three
doubles matches to get the shutout victory … WVU dominated
the Blue Hose as every singles victory was attained in straight
sets … on Monday the Mountaineers fell to the Dukes as the
match came down to the doubles point that Duquesne won …
WVU took three singles matches but was swept in the decisive
doubles matches to fall to its nearby rival.
Notes & Quotes
Saturday’s match against Presbyterian was Senior Day,
as Percival, Lyskawa, Prinz and Colleen Speaker were honored
prior to the match … Percival stands two career wins shy of
becoming only the 19th Mountaineer to reach 100 victories …
Lyskawa garnered her second 20-win season after winning in
singles and doubles against Presbyterian … Prinz became the
first Mountaineer to reach double-digit wins this year in singles
competition as she is now 10-6 at the No. 3 spot … all three
starting tandems at doubles have at least a .500 record or above,
with Lyskawa and sophomore Stephanie LaFortune topping out
at 9-3… WVU’s shutout on Saturday was its fourth of the season.
“I was happy for our girls to play so well on senior day.
There was a lot of emotion out there today and our players
settled into singles real well.”- WVU Head Coach Marc Walters
This Week in Track & Field
West Virginia will travel to compete in the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn., on April 9-12.
Last Week in Track & Field
WVU’s track team attended two meets last weekend – the Stanford and Duke Invitationals … distance
runner Clara Grandt finished second with a time of 16:28.57 in section two of the 5,000 meters at the Stanford
Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. … the West Union, W.Va., native was one of four WVU athletes to compete at
Stanford … Keri Bland ran her personal best for seventh place in the 1,500m at 4:21.66 … both Bland and Grandt
achieved NCAA Regional qualifying marks … Maria Dalzot was 22nd in section four of the 5,000m at 18:20.34.
Alison Spiker competed in the steeplechase and finished 19th at 11:11.40 to round out WVU’s competitors at
Stanford … the rest of WVU’s track team was in action at the Duke Invitational at Wallace Wade Stadium in
Durham, N.C. … Halimah Bashir took fourth place in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.07 … April Rotilio
took fifth in the 200 meters at 24.86 … the Mountaineers’ 4x400m relay of Bashir, Rotilio, Jordann Mitchell and
Katelyn Williams finished in 3:52.49 for fifth place … on the distance side, Jamie Cokeley ran very well to a time
of 18:52.93 to take sixth place in section C of the 5,000 meters … finally, highlighting the field events was
Alexandra Acker, who cleared 3.65 meters in the pole vault.
Notes & Quotes
“I’m very pleased with how well Clara ran. She came out of the weekend ranked sixth in the country. I think
this is one small step on how well she will run this season. That (time) should rank Keri in the top 10 of that event
in the country. They both ran very well.” - Head Coach Sean Cleary
This Week in Baseball
WVU will host Ohio for a midweek battle on Wednesday, April 9, before traveling to South Orange, N.J. to
face Seton Hall in a three-game BIG EAST series on Friday, April 11.
Last Week in Baseball
WVU went 4-1 on the week and won its second BIG EAST series against USF, taking two of three games
… earlier in the week, WVU defeated Maryland Eastern-Shore in doubleheader action, as Head Coach Greg
Van Zant earned his 400th career win … senior Tyler Kuhn led the Mountaineers at the plate recording 15 hits and
11 runs, while Austin Markel led the Mountaineers with 10 RBIs on the week … from the mound, Chris Enourato
registered one save and one win to record his fifth save of the season and improve his record to 3-0 … senior
Matt Yurish struck out 16 in 11 innings pitched on the week.
Notes & Quotes
“I’m really thrilled about the wins,” Van Zant said about his 400th win. “You have to have quality players and
quality assistants in the program and we do. This win is a reflection on the whole program and the quality level
we have.”
This Week in Gymnastics
WVU will compete in the 2008 NCAA Southeast Regional at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville,
Fla., on Saturday, April 12, at 7 p.m. … WVU will be joined by host No. 3 Florida, No. 9 UCLA, No. 15
Nebraska, No. 21 NC State and North Carolina at the Southeast Regional.
Last Week in Gymnastics
No. 25 West Virginia (23-7, 16-0 EAGL) was idle this past week after winning the 2008 EAGL Championship
in preparation for NCAA Regionals.
Notes & Quotes
The Mountaineers are the No. 5 seed in the Southeast Region and earned their 25th NCAA Regional
appearance since the NCAA first sponsored gymnastics in 1983 … the Mountaineers have advanced to NCAA
Nationals three times (1995, 1999, 2000) … besides the teams competing, five all-arounders and one individual
event specialist per event will compete from non-qualifying teams … the top two teams and the top two allaround
competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from the Southeast Regional will receive an automatic
berth to the national championships in Athens, Ga., April 24-26, hosted by the University of Georgia.
This Week in Rowing
The Mountaineers will travel to Camden, N.J., to compete in the Knecht Cup on April 12-13, on the Cooper
River.
Last Week in Rowing
The WVU rowing team competed against Dayton and Duquesne on the Eastwood Lake in Dayton, Ohio on
April 6 ... the varsity four boat highlighted the weekend finishing first with a time of 7:46.8.
Notes & Quotes
The varsity four boat dominated the competition stopping the clock at 7:46.8 ... the Mountaineers were
followed by Duquesne who came in second with a time of 7:55.5 ... WVU’s varsity eight boat also had a solid
finish, crossing the line with a time of 6:39.8 to place second behind Dayton (8:33.5) ... also racing this weekend
was the novice four and eight boats ... the novice four team “A” boat finished in third with a time of 8:16.8 in the
novice 4A race, while the “B” boat finished in second in the novice 4B race with a time of 8:54.4.