BLACKSBURG – Though it took a little bit, the Virginia Tech volleyball team picked up its first conference win of the season in style, knocking off No. 23 Louisville 3-1 on Sunday at Cassell Coliseum at Carilion Clinic Court.
The Hokies (8-13, 1-7 ACC), who hadn't beaten the Cardinals (14-4, 7-1) since 1992, earned their first win over a ranked opponent since 2015.
Tech get stellar play from outside hitter Kaity Smith (12 kills, nine digs, three blocks) and setter Talyn Jackson (37 assists, six digs), while UofL was paced by right-side hitter Aiko Jones (match-high 19 kills).
THE MATCH
Knotted at 10-10 to begin the match, the Cardinals went on a 5-1 run to take a 15-11 lead into the media timeout. After the pause in action, Tech chipped away at the lead, getting a kill by outside hitter Jennifer Williams, the first of her career, but UofL pulled away and went on to win 25-19.
Similar to the first set with a tight score early on, the Hokies, tied at 11-all, scored four of the next five points to take a three-point advantage at the media break at 15-12 in the second stanza. From there, things would go back and forth as Tech held onto its three-point advantage the rest of the way thanks to Smith taking over, with four kills after the media timeout to win 25-22.
Jumping out to a 7-3 lead behind two kills from outside hitter Cera Powell, Tech forced the Cards to burn a timeout and would stay steady the next few points with not allowing UofL to take a lead. But the Cards sure did make it tough, closing the gap to one-point deficits on three occasions (13-12, 14-13, 15-14), but the Hokies stood strong and maintained a lead to propel them to a 25-21 victory in set three.
Putting the pressure on once again, Tech earned another lead early, going up 8-5 after an ace by Mosley. The Hokies extended their lead to five points at 17-12, causing the Cards to try to stop Tech's momentum with taking their second timeout of the frame. However, the Hokies stayed composed and kept plugging away, finishing with an ace by defensive specialist Kylie Thomas to claim it 25-17.
QUOTING VIRGINIA TECH COACH JILL WILSON
On her reaction and what was going through her head after the ranked win:
"I'm just so happy for our players because we have been talking all year that we would be a second-half team," Tech coach Jill Wilson said. "And that's due to our youth and also some injuries in the lineup. I think today will really help them with that belief and trust. I'm just really proud of how hard they played all weekend."
On who impressed her in today's four-set battle:
"Even though they don't get a lot of the glory, our back-row defenders – Abby [McKinzie], Kylie [Thomas] and Logan [Mosley] – just managed so many plays back there to give our hitters more options," Wilson said. "And our hitters really took advantage of that. I think you always have to start with the first contact, and I thought they just did a great job of maintaining that."
On what type of confidence this will give the team heading into its next weekend of matches:
"I think it's hard because we have been talking about it so much," Wilson explained. "But for them to have that success and get that W versus a ranked team will give them that little extra belief, when we kept working in practice but hadn't had that result yet. So, I'm just really happy for them."
TWEET OF THE MATCH
The ace for the upset! ♠️@HokiesVB upends No. 23 Louisville in four sets!#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/bjNpYqyF1A
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) October 20, 2019
QUOTING SETTER TALYN JACKSON
On how gratifying it was to finally get the first league victory and to do it against a ranked opponent:
"It's the best feeling ever," Jackson said. "We played a really tough match against Notre Dame and we worked really hard in it. So, we kind of carried our hard work into this game and it paid off for us. We stuck together the whole time and will make it exciting for our future."
On the future piece and the confidence that stems from this win:
"It will give us a lot of confidence," Jackson said. "Wake [Forest] and Duke are really good teams, so this will give us a lot of confidence to compete against them. But we know we still have to work hard and prepare for them."
NOTES
- The last time the Hokies took down a ranked opponent was against then-No. 19 Michigan State in East Lansing, a 3-1 win on Sept. 4, 2015. The win marked Wilson's first ranked win, making her 1-5 all-time versus AVCA Top 25 teams.
- It had been a while since Tech defeated Louisville, snapping an 11-match losing streak that dated all the way back to Halloween in 1992, a five-set win in Louisville.
- Tech got it done defensively in its win, holding the Cards to a .181 hitting percentage thanks to Tech winning the block advantage with six stuffs and scooping up 49 digs. UofL's .181 clip was the lowest Tech had held an ACC opponent since Nov. 5, 2017 (Clemson, .108) and the third-lowest average in the Wilson era in conference matches.
- Smith nearly got her second straight double-double, just being one dig shy, but posted a season-high three blocks, marking her most since Nov. 4, 2018 (3 at Boston College).
- Powell turned in her third-most kills in an ACC match and now has had double-digit kills in half of her ACC matches (4 of 8). The North Carolina native also tallied an ACC-high hitting percentage with a .286 reading.
- Middle blocker Marisa Cerchio recorded 11 kills, one dig and a block. Her 11 kills give her five matches this fall in ACC play with 10-plus kills.
- Mosley scooped up 17 digs, giving her 36 on the weekend to average 4.50 digs per set. She chipped in two assists as well, extending her streak of two or more assists in a match to 13 contests dating back to Sept. 13.
- And last but not least, the back row made up of Mosley, McKinzie (5 digs) and Thomas (7), collected 29 digs as a whole.
UP NEXT
Tech will hit the road after its four-match homestand, heading south to the state of North Carolina to take on Duke (8-13, 1-7) Friday and Wake Forest (11-7, 1-6) Sunday. Both matches will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Gallery: (10/20/2019) 2019 VOLLEYBALL vs. LOUISVILLE