Hokie ClubPITTSBURGH - Going up against a likely NCAA Tournament team in Pitt, a 16 kill and performance from senior Lindsey Owens was not enough in the Virginia Tech volleyball team’s 3-0 loss (25-23, 25-18, 25-19) to the Panthers (23-8, 14-5 ACC) on Wednesday evening.
The Hokies (12-18, 7-12 ACC) hit .227 as a team but couldn’t stop the Pitt offense who hit at a .307 clip for the match. Senior Amanda McKinzie had 11 kills for Tech and now sits at 994 kills for her career.
The Hokies trailed 8-6 early in the first set but they quickly rattled off four straight points that reversed a deficit to a 10-8 lead, forcing Pitt to call a timeout. Tech was able to get a lot of touches at the net and kept the lead for most of the set because of defense and a balanced offensive attack. Sophomore Jaila Tolbert finished the set with three kills while junior Cara Cunningham tallied two of her four blocks.
It wasn’t until 21-20 that Pitt took its second lead of the game but they did not lose it as they took they narrowly first, 25-23.
After Tech dropped the second set, Owens took over with Tech trailing 7-3 in the third. She posted three kills in a 4-2 run that got the Hokies to within two, 9-7. Pitt still held onto the lead though, the Hokies cut the deficit to three later on in the game at 20-17 after consecutive kills from Owens and Rhegan Mitchell, but the Panthers would go on to pull out the win.
The Hokies will wrap up the season on Friday at 7 p.m. at Virginia. The match will be streamed live on WatchESPN.