Strong defense late not enough for the Hokies in the loss at Georgia TechStrong defense late not enough for the Hokies in the loss at Georgia Tech
Volleyball

Strong defense late not enough for the Hokies in the loss at Georgia Tech

ATLANTA -- Despite two hard-fought second and third sets, the Virginia Tech volleyball team (8-16, 3-10 ACC) could not get past one of the top home teams in the ACC in Georgia Tech, 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 26-24), on Friday evening in Atlanta.

Senior Lindsey Owens turned in 12 kills and 12 digs and classmate Amanda McKinzie posted a team-high 13 kills for the Hokies. Junior Cara Cunningham hit .500 (6-2-8) while sophomore Jaila Tolbert tallied tied for the match-high with four blocks. The Yellow Jackets (20-5, 11-2 ACC) have now won 10 in a row.

After dropping the first set, the Hokies jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set that featured a service ace from junior Rhana Mitchell and a kill from Tolbert. Georgia Tech battled back to cut the deficit to one but Tech responded with three-consecutive kills from Owens that made it 11-6 and forced the Jackets to call a timeout.

The game went back-and-forth after Georgia Tech tied it at 15-15 but, with the score knotted up at 23-23, a kill from McKinzie gave the Hokies set point. The second-place team in the ACC countered, though, with a 3-1 run to go up 2-0 in the match.

The two teams went blow-for-blow in the third set as well. Georgia Tech created some separation at 22-19 but the Hokies would not go down quietly. Tech rattled off three-straight points to tie it up at 22-22 and knotted it up again at 24-24 after an ace from freshman Carol Raffety. But it wouldn’t be enough as the Jackets pulled away with 26-24 win in the third to complete the sweep.

The Hokies next travel to Clemson for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday that will be streamed on the WatchESPN platform.

MATCH NOTES

  • With her five kills in the first set, McKinzie went over 900 kills for her career and now has 910.
  • Owens now has 12 double-doubles on the season.
  • Sophomore Rhegan Mitchell, who had missed the last 16 matches before last weekend with an injury, registered her first start since Sept. 3 against Texas A&M.
  • Freshman Melody Caloyannides picked her first career start on Friday evening.
  • After allowing Georgia Tech to hit at a high clip in the first set, the Hokies held the Jackets to percentages of .139 in the second and .103 in the third game.