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MORGANTOWN -- No. 2 West Virginia (12-0, 7-0 GARC) closed out the home regular season portion of its 2018-19 campaign the same way it has for the previous three seasons -- with a dominating performance.
Led by first-place finishes by senior Ginny Thrasher and junior Morgan Phillips, the Mountaineers handed No. 9 Navy a 4706-4660 setback Saturday afternoon at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building.
"We had a really good week in practice this week," WVU coach Jon Hammond said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the sport and match preparation. I think overall, the student-athletes did a really good job managing their nerves and excitement.
"That was great to see, as it's exactly what they'll see at the NCAA Championships. Learning how to deal with excitement and also having a good performance is promising."
Thrasher finished first in the air rifle with a 597, her second-best mark of the season and top air rifle score since shooting a season-best 599 on Oct. 14.
Phillips opened the meet with a victory in the smallbore competition.
The Maryland native shot a winning score of 587 (196 kneeling, 199 prone, 192 standing) to outdistance teammates Thrasher and junior David Koenders, who tied for second with matching 584 marks.
"It depends on the day," Thrasher, who won a Gold medal in the last Summer Olympics, said.
"(Saturday) it was the air rifle. Tomorrow, it could be smallbore. It changes and that's okay."
The Mountaineers have not lost a regular-season match since falling, 4705-4706, at Alaska-Fairbanks on Feb. 1, 2015.
A victory at No. 3 Kentucky, the team which snatched the National Championship away from the Mountaineers a year ago, will allow West Virginia to finish unbeaten in conference play for the fourth straight season.
That matchup is slated to begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9.
Even more impressive, it will allow seniors Will Anti and Thrasher to complete their collegiate careers unbeaten in regular season play.
"I didn't know that," Anti, who finished 10th overall in air rifle, said. "That would be something to remember, but right now our focus is on getting better ourselves. If we continue to challenge ourselves, winning will take care of itself."
Navy, which dropped to 8-29 against WVU all-time, was led by Michael Zanti fourth place (580) in smallbore and Kestrel Kuhne's fourth place in air rifle (590).
"David (Koenders) had a really good day, and it was great to have Morgan back - she shot a really strong smallbore match," Hammond said. "Ginny (Thrasher) was a lot happier (Saturday), too. That's what we want this semester - we want to see upward trending. We'll take lessons from this match, and we're looking forward to a solid two weeks of practice."