Hokie Club
OXFORD, Ohio – Taking on a Big Ten foe for the first time since 2017, the Virginia Tech volleyball team fell to the hands of Northwestern 3-0 on Saturday inside Millett Hall to wrap up the Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational.
The setback to the Wildcats (2-0) moved the Hokies (1-2) to 7-2 in opening-weekend tournaments in the Jill Wilson era. Despite the loss, freshman Logan Mosley once again played well, scooping up 17 digs and earned three service aces.
Due to her efforts, the libero was named to the all-tournament team. On the weekend, she racked up 60 digs, averaging 5.45 digs per set, 10 assists and seven aces.
THE MATCH
A back-and-forth affair is how the match began, as no team gained a lead larger than two points all the way up until it was 20-17 Northwestern. The three-point advantage would grow a tad more, going up five at 23-18 to cause a Tech timeout.
But the Hokies had a quick three-point spurt thanks to a kill from junior Marisa Cerchio and back-to-back aces by Mosley to make it 24-21. A Northwestern timeout stopped the Hokies' momentum, though, as it got a kill by Nia Robinson, who finished with a match-high 14 kills, to win it 25-21.
The Wildcats hit the ground running in the second set, taking a 7-3 lead early on. Things would seesaw from there with a kill by sophomore Tessa Wyner made it 11-8, but the Wildcats got hot and ripped off a 14-4 run to take it 25-12.
Just like the first frame, no team got out ahead to take a substantial lead. With the score knotted at 11-all, Northwestern got three straight point to make Tech take a timeout. After the pause in action, the Hokies would roar back to tie it up at 19-19 after another kill by Cerchio. But the Wildcats finished strong with scoring six of the next eight points to claim it 25-21.
QUOTING LIBERO LOGAN MOSLEY
On how her first weekend went at the collegiate level:
"I thought I did pretty good and it was a lot of fun, playing with the girts against someone else finally," Mosley said. "And then being in my first college match was just so exciting."
On how the team battled versus some quality teams:
"We learned a lot even though we did lose," Mosley said. "We battled and fought hard. I thought it was good play, though we can play better."
On her thoughts about the freshmen and how they played this weekend in starting roles:
"I thought we were strong and our mentality was there," Mosley said. "We were focused and had fun at the same time."
NOTES
- Mosley became the first Tech freshman to make an all-tournament team since Sept. 9, 2017, when Kaity Smith made the Thunder Invite all-tournament team.
- Wyner led the Hokies on the outside, getting a team-high nine kills and seven digs. The West Virginia native had her best two-match stretch, getting 22 kills in the Miami (Ohio) and Northwestern matches.
- Cerchio finished with the second-most kills on the team with eight kills and a team-best three blocks.
- Setter Talyn Jackson flirted with a double-double, collecting 21 assists and seven digs.
UP NEXT
Tech will stay in-state next weekend, heading north to Lynchburg to take on Liberty, Elon and Davidson in a four-team tournament.Gallery: (8/31/2019) 2019 VOLLEYBALL vs. NORTHWESTERN