Hokie ClubHUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Beginning the Thunder Invite Friday evening, Virginia Tech Volleyball fell to Marshall, 3-0, inside the Cam Henderson Center.
Tech (5-2), which had played flawless in the second set of its matches with a 6-0 reading, lost the second frame in nail-biting fashion, 29-27, and eventually the third against the Thundering Herd (3-6), 25-21.
Despite losing their first match of the season in three sets, the Hokies showed some fight making comebacks in all three sets with eight ties in the first set, 17 in the second and four in the final frame.
In the opening set, both sides traded points as the score was knotted, 11-11. Marshall got hot and rushed to a 21-16 advantage, however, Tech went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to two points. The Thundering Herd would not relinquish it, holding on for a 25-21 victory.
Down 12-7 to kick off the middle frame, the Hokies went on a 7-2 run behind Kaity Smith’s two kills to erase the deficit, making it 14-all. From that point forward, both sides were in a seesaw affair as neither team stretched its lead to more than two points. Trailing 27-26, Marshall finished on a 3-0 run to cap off the tightly contested second set.
Set three started off with both squads tied midway through the frame at 9-9. The Thundering Herd found their rhythm and rolled off a 7-2 run to make it 16-11. Tech, as it did all night, clawed back and cut it to three, 21-18, but Marshall stayed the course and wrapped up the final set, 25-21, to claim the victory.
NOTES
- Junior Jaila Tolbert once again led the team in hitting percentage (.462), marking the third match this season the Minnesota native has done so.
- Setter Mandy Powers saw action tonight for the first time since Aug. 25 versus South Dakota State. The senior earned her first block of the season and dished out two assists.
- Carol Raffety led the way on the defensive end, scooping up 11 digs. The libero has tallied double-digit digs in every contest this fall.
- Freshman Kai Young registered her first kill since the second match of the season against South Dakota State on Aug. 25, hammering it down the middle of the defense.
STAT OF THE MATCH
- Virginia Tech still leads the all-time series against the Thundering Herd, 14-6. Tonight’s match was the first time the two schools battled since 2014, which was a 3-0 victory by the Hokies in Blacksburg, making the last two matches a sweep for each school.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Set 2 | We got a tight one 😱
— VT Volleyball (@VT_VBall) September 9, 2017
25-all as both teams keep fighting back 👊
WHAT IS NEXT
The Hokies look to back bounce tomorrow as they take on Maryland at 11 a.m. ET and Toledo at 5 p.m. to conclude the Thunder Invite.