BLACKSBURG – Beginning the season on the road, Virginia Tech's volleyball team will head south to Charlotte, North Carolina for a two-day tournament involving three matches at the Charlotte Invitational.
The Hokies will face USC Upstate, Presbyterian and Charlotte, which will host the tournament. Elon will also be in action at Halton Arena, but Tech will not play them. Year 2 under Head Coach Jill Wilson starts on Friday against USC Upstate at noon ET and will be back for two matches on Saturday versus Presbyterian at noon and Charlotte at 6 p.m.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Fri. | Noon ET vs. USC Upstate | Stats
Sat. | Noon ET vs. Presbyterian | Stats
Sat. | 6 p.m. ET at Charlotte | Stats | Stream
It will mark the first meeting with Presbyterian and only the second meeting with USC Upstate, with Tech winning the first matchup 3-1 in 1983. The Hokies own the all-time series against Charlotte 12-8. The first time they took on the 49ers was in 1980, a 2-0 loss, and the last time they faced them was in 2003, a 3-2 loss.
The match against the 49ers will be the lone match streamed on the weekend. You can access the stream online via C-USA TV, but it will cost money. The price is $6.95 for a 24-hour subscription.
Tech has 16 student-athletes on the roster and of the 16, 11 are underclassmen. One of the youngest groups in the ACC, 69 percent of Tech's team is freshmen and sophomores.
Though the Hokies will be youthful in 2018, they do bring back All-ACC selection Jaila Tolbert at the right-side hitter position. Tolbert is coming off her best season yet and had quite the summer, too, as the senior competed on the U.S. Collegiate National Team.
Fellow redshirt senior Rhegan Mitchell will be back at the setter position. She had a successful '17 campaign, racking up more than 1,000 assists – first time by a Hokie since 2013.
Both starting outside hitters return for Tech in sophomores Kaity Smith and Ester Talamazzi. The pair each earned ACC Freshman of the Week last year.
Mitchell (8), Smith (5) and Talamazzi (7) combined for 20 double-doubles last fall.
Sophomore Kai Young will be back at her stomping grounds, as the middle blocker comes back home to the Queen City.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
USC UPSTATE
• Coming off an 8-21 season in 2017, the Spartans were picked seventh in the Big South preseason poll out of 10 teams. They return four starters from last year's squad.
• USC Upstate is led by Lily Dempsey, who racked up 284 kills and 67 blocks last fall. Senior Madison Haake returns at the setter position, where she dished out 835 assists and scooped up 301 digs in 2017.
• Jennifer Calloway enters her 23rd season at the helm in Spartanburg and welcomes five newcomers. Calloway's all-time record at USC Upstate is 347-351.
PRESBYTERIAN
• The Blue Hose enter 2018 after posting an 8-23 overall record and return four starters and their libero. They were tabbed sixth in the Big South preseason poll, which is one spot ahead of USC Upstate.
• Head Coach Korrinn Burgess, who is in her sixth season, brings in four freshmen to Clinton. Burgess' all-time record at Presbyterian is 38-111.
• PC returns its three leaders in kills last season, Erin Eulitz, Allie Wright and Caroline Henderson, as well as their top two in assists, Jaclyn Brewington and Sierra Jones. Eulitz led the team with 352 kills last season and Brewington registered a team-high 654 assists last year.
CHARLOTTE
• Charlotte was picked seventh in the Conference USA preseason poll out of 13 teams. The 2016 squad finished 19-12 overall and eighth in C-USA.
• Junior Yumi Garcia, the 2017 C-USA Libero of the Year, returns after recording 617 digs, 101 assists and 17 aces last fall. Senior Jannelle Curtiss comes back to the lead 49ers on the outside following 345-kill, 314-dig season in 2017.
• Karen Weatherington will lead the 49ers once again as she heads into her fifth season in the Queen City. She welcomes seven newcomers. Weatherington's all-time record at Charlotte is 34-54.
