OXFORD, Ohio – After starting the season 1-0 earlier in the day, Virginia Tech volleyball met its match on Friday night from Millett Hall, falling to host Miami (Ohio) 3-1 at the Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational.
The RedHawks (1-0), who are the preseason favorite in the MAC, played in their home opener and will play two matches tomorrow, while Tech has one contest Saturday.
The Hokies (1-1) were led by freshman Logan Mosley and her career-high 24 digs and six assists. Offensively, sophomore Tessa Wyner had her best day yet in the maroon and orange, logging a career-best 13 kills, six digs and three blocks.
THE MATCH
Tech got off to a fast start, jumping out to a three-point lead after a kill by junior Marisa Cerchio at 12-9. But the RedHawks answered with a run of their own, going up by six points after scoring 10 of the next 11 points to make it 19-13. However, Tech cut the deficit in half at 22-19, but would allow Miami to win it, 25-21.
The RedHawks gained the lead early in set two and would get up by as many as nine points, 19-10. But the Hokies would go to work, chipping away at Miami's lead. Wyner would get two kills and freshman Anabel Zier got two of her own, outscoring the RedHawks by four down the stretch, 10-6, but fell 25-20.
With the score knotted at 13-13 in the third frame, the Hokies put it in to gear by scoring four straight, forcing a Miami timeout. The stop in action would result in little momentum being halted, though, as Tech ripped off eight of the next 13 points behind two kills from freshman Cera Powell and a couple of block assists from Wyner to win it 25-18.
The final stanza started similar to the third set, with neither team gaining the upper hand early on. With the score tied at 11-all, the RedHawks put together four of the next five points to their name, making Tech take a timeout. But they kept it going, finishing on a 9-5 run to claim it 25-17.
QUOTING HEAD COACH JILL WILSON
On it not being how the staff drew it up, but how the team battled in the loss:
"I was actually pleased with a couple of things," Virginia Tech coach Jill Wilson said. "One, our composure in an environment where a championship team is hanging their banner and had a great crowd. I thought our team from this morning took a huge step with maintaining their composure, no matter if a point was won or loss, you couldn't even tell. So, I'm really excited about how that's going to hold for the future.
"The second thing is I was really pleased with our freshmen today. They're really coming through and are getting dramatically better each match."
On libero Logan Mosley's 20-plus dig performance:
"Logan is going to be a very special player for us," Wilson said. "Her numbers have been pretty outstanding, but what I like the most is she hasn't even tapped into how good she can be. We're just going to keep working with her, but I'm really excited for her future."
NOTES
- Mosley's 20-dig outing marked the first time a Tech freshman had done so since Nov. 6, 2016, when senior Carol Raffety accomplished the feat against Clemson.
- Zier posted her second straight match of hitting north of .300, with this time going 10 of 21, marking her second straight 10-kill performance.
- Setter Talyn Jackson ended up with 27 assists and four kills, tying her career high for kills in a match, which she did twice last season (vs. USC Upstate, Robert Morris).
- Powell was close to notching her first-ever double-double, falling short with eight kills and a career-best eight digs.
UP NEXT
Tech will wrap up the four-team tournament on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET versus Big Ten foe Northwestern (1-0), which beat USC Upstate (0-2) earlier this evening.Gallery: (8/30/2019) 2019 VOLLEYBALL vs. MIAMI (OHIO)
