BLACKSBURG – After picking up its first ranked win in four years, the Virginia Tech volleyball team seeks to build off that this weekend as it takes on Duke Friday and Wake Forest Sunday on the road.
In the process of their win over then-No. 23 Louisville (14-4, 7-1 ACC), the Hokies (8-13, 1-7) earned their first conference victory of the season.
Tech will face two teams that just met this past Wednesday, with the Blue Devils (9-13, 2-7) winning in three sets over the Demon Deacons (11-9, 1-8) in Durham. The Tech-Duke matchup will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, while the Tech-Wake contest will not be broadcast.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Fri. | 6:30 p.m. ET at Duke | Stats | Watch
Sun. | 1 p.m. ET at Wake Forest | Stats
The last time out, Tech fought hard against [RV] Notre Dame (14-4, 7-1) on Friday at Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum, falling in the fourth set 27-25 to have a 3-1 setback despite double-doubles from junior Kaity Smith (12 kills, 16 digs) and sophomore Talyn Jackson (44 assists, career-high 15 digs).
But the Hokies rallied in their next match, knocking off the Cardinals for the first time since 1992. A big reason why was the play of Tech's back row, getting a combined 29 digs from libero Logan Mosley (17) and defensive specialists Abby McKinzie (5) and Kylie Thomas (7).
In the ACC rankings, freshman Logan Mosley owns the No. 2 mark in the ACC for digs per set (4.44) and sophomore Talyn Jackson ranks seventh in the league for assists per set with a 9.39 average. As a team, Tech ranks third in the conference for digs per set (14.51).
SCOUTING DUKE
• Duke, coming off its sweep over Wake on its home court, fell in both matches last weekend on the road at Clemson (9-10, 3-5) in five sets and at Georgia Tech (12-7, 5-3) in three. However, similar to Tech, the Blue Devils do have a ranked win, defeating then-No. 14 Oregon (6-11, 2-6 Pac-12) in five sets in September.
• Head coach Jolene Nagel enters her 21st season in Durham and has led the Blue Devils to 14 NCAA Tournaments. During her stay at Duke, she has racked up four ACC championships and four ACC Coach of the Year awards.
• The Blue Devils are paced by 2018 All-ACC selection Ade Owokoniran, who ranks seventh in the conference for kills per set with a 3.71 average.
• Duke leads the all-time series 30-4 and is a perfect 20-0 in Durham against Tech. The last time the Hokies pulled one out versus the Blue Devils was in 2014, a five-set win in Blacksburg.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
• Wake Forest, which fell on the road in Durham Wednesday to extend its losing streak to six matches, fell, like Duke, to Clemson and Georgia Tech last weekend, with both contests being sweeps.
• Interim head coach Randi Smart is in her third year in Winston-Salem and the first as the top one in charge, following her previous two years as an assistant. Smart, who has been a head coach before, had an eight-year stint at Cal State Los Angeles.
• Caitlyn Della leads the Demon Deacons offensively, owning the third-best hitting percentage in the ACC with a .384 clip.
• The Hokies have the advantage in the all-time series 33-12 and have won six straight over the Deacs. In Winston-Salem, Tech is 15-11 and hasn't lost at Wake since 2014.
