LYNCHBURG, Va. – Wrapping up the Liberty Invitational Saturday night, the Virginia Tech volleyball team fell to Liberty on its home court in the Vines Center 3-1.
Junior Marisa Cerchio once again led the charge offensively, tying a career-high 15 kills with three blocks. Sophomore Talyn Jackson dished out 33 assists and had 13 digs, marking her first double-double of the season and the second of her career.
Freshman Logan Mosley, coming off her record-breaking performance earlier in the day versus Davidson (2-3), scooped up a team-high 16 digs and owned five assists. Junior Kylie Thomas for the third straight match had exactly 13 digs, giving her 39 on the weekend.
The Lady Flames (2-2) and Hokies (3-3) played a tightly-contested match, with the contest seeing 17 ties and six lead changes in the four-setter. Liberty's Amelia Johnson had a double-double herself, posting a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs.
THE MATCH
Getting in a hole early, the Hokies faced a three-point deficit at 9-6 in the opening set. Things would go back and forth all the way up 19-16, then Tech dug deep and finished on a 9-4 run behind Cerchio getting three kills during the stretch to win 25-23.
The second frame was another one with the Hokies getting a little behind early, trailing 11-7. Staring the four-point disadvantage in the face, Tech went to work and cut it to one at 23-22. But the Lady Flames would score the next three points to take it 25-22.
Knotted at 9-all in the third stanza after a kill by freshman Cera Powell, the Lady Flames took a five-point lead into the media timeout, 15-10. They would extend their lead the rest of the way, winning it 25-15.
The final set saw quite the comeback by the Hokies, trailing by seven points at 18-11, Tech took a quick timeout to talk over its game plan of getting it done. The first point after the break was another kill by Powell, which began a 7-1 run by Tech, thanks to two kills apiece from Cerchio and Powell. However, Liberty would finish strong by scoring six of the next 10 points to win it 25-22.
NOTES
- Jackson's double-double was her first since Sept. 1, 2018, when she tallied 45 assists and 13 digs versus Robert Morris, filling in for then-starting setter Rhegan Mitchell, which was Jackson's first-ever start at Tech.
- Cerchio was a staple of the offense all weekend, improving upon kill numbers in each match, recording 13 versus Elon (1-5) on Friday, 14 against Davidson earlier today and 15 tonight at Liberty. Her total on the weekend was a team-best 42 kills, averaging 3.5 kills per set.
- Sophomore Angel Robinson registered a season-high seven kills and a team-best four blocks. The last time the Oklahoma native led the team in blocks in a match was when she had five against Duke on Oct. 21, 2018.
- Mosley finished the Liberty Invitational with 76 digs in the three matches, averaging an impressive 6.33 digs per set.
UP NEXT
Tech will hit the road again but this time for its first midweek tilt of the season, heading east to Richmond, Virginia to take on VCU (4-3) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Gallery: (9/7/2019) 2019 VOLLEYBALL vs. LIBERTY