CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Back on the road for the third time in October, the Virginia Tech volleyball team fell to Miami (Fla.) 3-0 on Friday night inside the Knight Sports Complex.
The Hokies (13-10, 4-7 ACC) were 8-2 on Fridays coming into the match, but dropped their third loss on the day despite double-digit kills from senior Jaila Tolbert. The Hurricanes (13-6, 9-3 ACC) were paced by setter Haley Templeton, who tallied six kills, 35 assists and five service aces.
Tolbert scored all of Tech's first four points of the match, but Miami opened with a 6-4 advantage. The Hurricanes would extend their lead to 15-9 heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, Miami kept its momentum and finished the first set scoring 10 of the next 14 points to win it, 25-13.
Knotted at 9-9 after a crafty kill by setter Rhegan Mitchell, playing on her birthday, the 'Canes would respond with an 11-2 run to take a 20-11 lead. Sophomores Kaity Smith and Ester Talamazzi put down a kill each but it would not be enough as Miami won the second frame 25-14.
The final set saw nine ties in a back-and-forth affair all the way up to 13-all after freshman Angel Robinson scored consecutive points for the Hokies but Miami scored the final two going into the media timeout with a two-point advantage, 15-13. Once again out of the pause in action, the 'Canes found their rhythm and concluded the stanza with scoring 10 of the next 13 points to claim it, 25-16.
NOTES
- Tolbert racked up 10 kills on the night, marking her third straight match of owning double-digit kills. The Minnesota native is closing in on 1,000 in her career, with totaling 927 and seven matches remain.
- Mitchell dished out 27 assists and recorded four digs and a kill. With playing in the contest, Mitchell appeared in her 100thcareer match, making the Hokies have two players (Mitchell, Tolbert) play in 100 or more matches. The pair is one of only four teams in the ACC to have a duo play in over 100 matches.
- Libero Carol Raffety scooped up 12 digs and had two assists. The California native has collected 58 digs in her last three matches.
- After turning in four career highs against Duke on Sunday, Robinson stayed hot and put down a new career-high six kills. She has tallied 11 kills her last two matches, marking her best two-match total of the season.
QUOTING HEAD COACH JILL WILSON
On right-side hitter Jaila Tolbert getting the team going early but Miami having an answer:
"We talked to our team about it, but we thought our team didn't do a very good job of getting over this past Sunday's loss," Tech coach Jill Wilson said. "We didn't bring back that passion and energy, with us playing a little bit flat tonight. I thought our two seniors really tried to get the team going, but we did not have a very good response."
On what the focus will be heading into Sunday's matchup with Florida State:
"We have to get back to playing with passion and heart every single point," Wilson said. "We have to become true competitors and when someone pushes us, we can't back down. We have to raise our level of play because we'll have another tough test on Sunday."
WHAT IS NEXT
- The Hokies will head north in the state of Florida, taking on Florida State (13-8, 9-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET inside Tully Gym in Tallahassee. The match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
