Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Carol Raffety scooped up a season-high 26 digs and three Hokies tallied double-digit kills to guide Virginia Tech volleyball to a 3-2 win over Wake Forest on Friday night at Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum.
The Hokies (13-8, 4-5 ACC) for the first time since Sept. 11 had three players own 10 or more kills, with Jaila Tolbert (16 kills), Kaity Smith (14) and Ester Talamazzi (13) accomplishing the feat. The Demon Deacons (8-14, 3-7 ACC) were led by Myca Mitchell, who registered a match-high 17 kills, five digs and three blocks.
Mitchell put one down to give Wake Forest a 9-6 lead to begin the match, forcing a Tech timeout. Out of the break, Smith responded with three kills in a row to cause the Demon Deacons to take a timeout at 14-11 with the lead. The Hokies would cut into the lead and come back at 17-all after a kill by Tolbert and would not look back, finishing on an 8-4 run to win it 25-21.
The second set saw the Demon Deacons jump out to an 8-4 advantage before Talamazzi earned an ace to cut it to a two-point set at 10-8. Wake Forest would continue with its momentum, though, extending its lead to 20-15, causing a Tech timeout. The Hokies would win a challenge and cut the deficit but the Demon Deacons ended up winning 25-19.
Wake Forest once again earned the early advantage, collecting a 17-10 lead to force a Hokie timeout. However, Tech dug deep and rattled off six of the next eight points to cut it to 19-16, causing a Demon Deacon timeout. But the Hokies weren't done, as they clawed back to make it 23-all and then got the next two points by setter Rhegan Mitchell and Tolbert gathering a kill apiece to claim it 25-23.
The fourth frame was eerily similar to the third, except it was the Hokies that began it with a big lead. Tech started it up 11-5 to force a Wake Forest timeout and would extend its advantage to 22-15, but the Demon Deacons dug deep as well and would end up coming all the back and winning it 30-28. The set saw seven ties and was the longest of the year for the Hokies.
The final stanza was led by Tolbert and Talamazzi rising to the occasion of the winner-take-all set, with each owning four kills each. Tolbert earned the first point of the frame with a kill and led the Hokies to a 5-1 lead to cause a Wake Forest timeout. The Demon Deacons came back and cut it to two at 10-8, but Tolbert had back-to-back kills and then Talamazzi did the same to help Tech win it 15-9.
(10/19/2018) 2018 VOLLEYBALL vs. WAKE FOREST
NOTES
- Raffety collected the third-most digs of her career and her most since Sept. 16, 2016, versus Radford. The California native also recorded two assists and two aces. Raffety vaulted all the way to No. 10 all-time at Tech for career digs, owning 1,188 now as she passed Amanda McKinzie (2013-16) and Terrie Zubert (1994-97).
- Talamazzi also was a force on defense, scooping up 20 digs – the second most of her career – and earning the double-double with 13 kills, as well as two blocks, two aces and an assist. She was two away from her career high of 22, which was set earlier this year in another five-match (Charlotte, Aug. 25).
- Tolbert was one shy of her season high for kills, tying her second most of the season (16 vs. UTSA on Sept. 16). The senior also had a block, extending her streak of one or more in a match to 10 straight.
- Smith had her most kills since Sept. 23 against North Carolina (16), marking her 16thmatch this fall of having 10 or more kills. The Kentucky native also chipped in seven digs, two blocks, one ace and an assist.
- Middle blocker Marisa Cerchio stopped six attacks and had six kills. The six blocks were her most since she had eight at Georgia Tech on Oct. 5. Fellow middle blocker Angel Robinson earned the first start of her career and finished with tying a career-high three kills and four blocks.
- Sophomore Kylie Thomas racked up 10 digs, tying her season high set on Sept. 1 versus Robert Morris. The 10 digs are the second most of her career. Thomas also had two aces and an assist.
- Tech's Mitchell dished out 36 assists and had four digs, two blocks and two kills, while fellow setter Talyn Jackson put up nine assists for the second straight match (Notre Dame, Oct. 14) and owned two blocks, two digs and a kill.
STAT OF THE MATCH
- Coming into tonight's match, Tech was 1-0 on the year in five-setters, beating Charlotte 3-2 on Aug. 25 on the 49ers' home court. With the win over the Demon Deacons, the Hokies improved to 2-0 this fall in five-set matches and 5-2 under Wilson since her arrival in 2017.
QUOTING HEAD COACH JILL WILSON
On having a knack to come up with a win in five-setters, improving to 2-0 on the year:
"I thought our team really started to play with passion, heart and not just playing volleyball," Tech coach Jill Wilson said. "I was really proud of that change. I thought each of them at times came through for the team, especially in that fifth set. I thought specifically Carol Raffety tonight was a whole different level than what she has been for the last few weeks. She invested so much time this week in video and practice and was really determined to help this team take another step."
On trailing by seven points and coming back to win the third set:
"Wake Forest did a good job as well, they are very gritty and never give up," Wilson said. "They force you to make plays, so we kept talking to our team about us needing to win those long rallies. I thought Carol [Raffety] really helped us do that because she kept the ball off the floor. I thought our team at that moment during the third set of pushing through and winning some of those longer rallies really helped us keep the momentum."
On the takeaways going into Sunday's matchup with Duke:
"Getting rest tonight and early in the morning before we do practice and video," Wilson said. "Our team is really excited for Sunday. I think we will take the good points from tonight and start it even earlier in the match."
TWEET OF THE MATCH
Appreciate the time @HokiesVB makes for the fans. They sure know how to bring out the smiles. Another great reminder of why #ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/jrXAGDoxe3
— Andrew Smith (@purpleheartvet) October 20, 2018
WHAT IS NEXT
- The Hokies will be back at it on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET against Duke (10-8, 4-5 ACC) at Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum. The match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. The Hokies' four ACC wins tie last year's mark as they seek to improve upon that number going into its matchup with the Blue Devils, who won last year's battle in five sets in Blacksburg.