Ripley's Lexy Kessel was named the Mountain State Athletic Conference volleyball player of the year Monday.

Ripley's Corby Stalnaker was chosen MSAC coach of the year after guiding the Vikings to the MSAC tournament championship and their first appearance in the state tournament in school history. Ripley lost to Musselman in five sets in the Class AAA state title game.

Kessel was also an All-MSAC first-team selection along with South Charleston's Bailey Ruddle, Greenbrier East's Amanda Alleyne, Parkersburg's Molly Kirkland, Princeton's Laura Whitt, Huntington's Sydney Brickett, Capital's Megan Lucas and Woodrow Wilson's Laura Cipoletti. (For complete All-MSAC teams, see Page 2B).

STATE WOMEN WIN: Brittany Mingo netted 24 points as West Virginia State won its season opener with an 86-60 victory over host Davis & Elkins in a West Virginia Conference women's basketball matchup.

Renee Bostic picked up her first win as coach of the Yellow Jackets. Bostic replaces Gill Heasley, who stepped down after last season. Teonna Jewell had 12 points for the Senators (0-2).

MU WOMEN WIN: Tynikki Crook turned in 21 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to pace Marshall to a 78-69 victory over North Texas in a women's basketball matchup Monday night at Huntington.

Casey Baker added 14 points and seven rebounds while Chantelle Handy added 13 points, five assists and six rebounds for the Herd (2-0), which had five players score in double digits. Tricia Lee tallied 21 points for North Texas (0-1).

SNYDER SIGNS: Sissonville senior Kaitlin Snyder signed a letter of intent Monday to play women's basketball at Fairmont State.

Snyder, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged 14.5 points per game last season for the Indians and was a Class AA first-team all-state selection.

Snyder finished her prep soccer career this fall with 96 goals after missing most of the season with a knee injury. She returned for the regional final, but the Indians lost to Charleston Catholic 1-0 in the second five-minute sudden-death overtime period.

SOMMER SIGNS: Point Pleasant senior Anna Sommer signed a letter of intent to play softball for Division I Morehead State.

The shortstop helped the Knights to the Class AA state championship this past spring. Sommer also plays girls basketball and needs 52 points this season for 1,000 career points.

WVC VOLLEYBALL: West Virginia State will take on Wheeling Jesuit on Thursday in the Atlantic Region of the NCAA Division II volleyball tournament at California (Pa.).

Wheeling Jesuit (28-8) defeated State in the West Virginia Conference championship Saturday and earned the second seed in the region. State (25-4), which was the conference regular-season champion with a perfect 15-0 record, garnered the No. 7 seed. The time for Thursday's opening-round match will be set later.

Ripley's Lexy Kessel was named the Mountain State Athletic Conference volleyball player of the year Monday.

Ripley's Corby Stalnaker was chosen MSAC coach of the year after guiding the Vikings to the MSAC tournament championship and their first appearance in the state tournament in school history. Ripley lost to Musselman in five sets in the Class AAA state title game.

Kessel was also an All-MSAC first-team selection along with South Charleston's Bailey Ruddle, Greenbrier East's Amanda Alleyne, Parkersburg's Molly Kirkland, Princeton's Laura Whitt, Huntington's Sydney Brickett, Capital's Megan Lucas and Woodrow Wilson's Laura Cipoletti. (For complete All-MSAC teams, see Page 2B).

STATE WOMEN WIN: Brittany Mingo netted 24 points as West Virginia State won its season opener with an 86-60 victory over host Davis & Elkins in a West Virginia Conference women's basketball matchup.

Renee Bostic picked up her first win as coach of the Yellow Jackets. Bostic replaces Gill Heasley, who stepped down after last season. Teonna Jewell had 12 points for the Senators (0-2).

MU WOMEN WIN: Tynikki Crook turned in 21 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to pace Marshall to a 78-69 victory over North Texas in a women's basketball matchup Monday night at Huntington.

Casey Baker added 14 points and seven rebounds while Chantelle Handy added 13 points, five assists and six rebounds for the Herd (2-0), which had five players score in double digits. Tricia Lee tallied 21 points for North Texas (0-1).

SNYDER SIGNS: Sissonville senior Kaitlin Snyder signed a letter of intent Monday to play women's basketball at Fairmont State.

Snyder, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged 14.5 points per game last season for the Indians and was a Class AA first-team all-state selection.

Snyder finished her prep soccer career this fall with 96 goals after missing most of the season with a knee injury. She returned for the regional final, but the Indians lost to Charleston Catholic 1-0 in the second five-minute sudden-death overtime period.

SOMMER SIGNS: Point Pleasant senior Anna Sommer signed a letter of intent to play softball for Division I Morehead State.

The shortstop helped the Knights to the Class AA state championship this past spring. Sommer also plays girls basketball and needs 52 points this season for 1,000 career points.

WVC VOLLEYBALL: West Virginia State will take on Wheeling Jesuit on Thursday in the Atlantic Region of the NCAA Division II volleyball tournament at California (Pa.).

Wheeling Jesuit (28-8) defeated State in the West Virginia Conference championship Saturday and earned the second seed in the region. State (25-4), which was the conference regular-season champion with a perfect 15-0 record, garnered the No. 7 seed. The time for Thursday's opening-round match will be set later.

WVU ATHLETICS: Cross country runner Keri Bland was named West Virginia University's athlete of the week Monday.

Bland finished fourth to lead the Mountaineers to a tie with Princeton in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Team Regional Championship on Saturday. WVU automatically qualified for the NCAA national championship, marking the first back-to-back appearances in school history.

MU VOLLEYBALL: Marshall's Elizabeth Fleming was named the Conference USA volleyball setter of the week Monday.

Fleming notched 47 assists during the Herd's win over East Carolina and also tallied nine digs, four blocks and three kills. Marshall plays Southern Mississippi at 5 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the C-USA volleyball tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

WVU GYMNASTICS: Chelsea Goldschrafe, Arlene Hathaway and Alaska Richardson have signed national letters of intent to compete for the WVU gymnastics team.

Goldschrafe recently tied for 19th in the all-around at the Level 10 Junior Olympic National Championships. Hathaway won the uneven bars at the same event and finished ninth in the all-around while Richardson placed sixth on the beam at the Region 5 Regional.

WVU RIFLE: After losing its first match of the season to Kentucky on Saturday, the WVU rifle team rebounded with a win Sunday over Memphis in Lexington, Ky.

Sophomore Andy Lamson led the Mountaineers with a personal-best score of 592 in the air rifle score. WVU sophomore Tommy Santelli also tied his school record with a 200 in prone.

MU BASEBALL: The Marshall baseball team will visit the pediatric unit at Cabell Huntington Hospital at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The players will hand out autographed baseballs.

FIGURE SKATING: WV Synchro and WV Synchro Too will compete in the first annual Mountain State Synchro Skate at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the South Charleston Memorial Ice Arena.

The event is free and open to the public and will also feature teams from North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. For more information call 744-4ICE.

SCHEDULES NEEDED: Area high schools and colleges are urged to send their winter sports schedules to the Gazette in order to be included in our daily listing of athletic events. Schedules can be faxed to 348-1740, e-mailed to lorir...@wvgazette.com or mailed to Gazette sports, 1001 Virginia St. East, Charleston, WV 25301.