WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – It didn't come easy for the Virginia Tech volleyball team to earn its first ACC road win of the season, but behind stellar play from middle blocker Marisa Cerchio and libero Logan Mosley, the Hokies defeated Wake Forest 3-2 on Sunday at Reynolds Gym.
The five-set win for the Hokies (9-14, 2-8 ACC) improved their record in five-setters to 3-1 on the year, while the Demon Deacons (11-10, 1-9) fell to 0-2 in five-set matches. Both liberos for each team turned in big-time performances, as Mosley racked up a match-high 27 digs and Wake's Caitlin Clarke tallied 26 of her own.
Offensively for Tech, Cerchio posted a team-high 14 kills, outside hitter Kaity Smith had her second straight double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs and setter Talyn Jackson dazzled with 40 assists and six kills.
THE MATCH
Tech got it going early with getting out to a 9-5 lead to begin the match, but a Wake run tied it up at 12-all. Things would go back and forth from there until it was 17-17, when the Hokies scored five of the next six points thanks to back-to-back kills by Cerchio to give them a lead they would not relent, winning 25-20.
Knotted at 11-11 to start the second set, Cerchio took over and collected two blocks and a kill to push Tech's lead to five points at 16-11. The Hokies would not look back with that momentum, outscoring the Deacs 9-4 the rest of the way to win 25-15.
But that energy would cool off for Tech, as Wake got into a rhythm and got up 12-8 after consecutive aces, forcing the Hokies to take a timeout in the third frame. Tech cut the deficit to three but that would be as close as it got, with the Deacs kicking it to gear and winning by eight at 25-17.
Going up by four points at 13-9 after a combo block by Smith and fellow junior Kai Young, Tech let it slip away as Wake scored six of the next seven points to make it 15-14. However, the Hokies made a run of their own to go up four again, 19-15. But another Deacon run would be too much as they won 25-23 in the fourth stanza.
Smith came up big in the fifth set, getting two team highs with four kills and four digs alone in the frame, giving Tech an 8-4 lead when teams switched sides. After the break, Wake roared back to make it a one-point set at 10-9, but Smith put one down to get it back to two and that would be enough as the Hokies claimed it 15-11.
QUOTING FRESHMAN LOGAN MOSLEY
On her 27 digs and why she thought she did so well defensively:
"Honestly, just coming off of the injury I had a few weeks ago and getting back into the groove," Mosley said. "I just had a lot of confidence in myself, with picking up balls. My teammates were all around me and supported me in everything I did. So, that was really helpful."
On getting the first ACC road win:
"It's amazing," Mosley said. "We're just going to continue to go on from here on out. Our team chemistry is building and building from every match that we play. So, hopefully we get some wins next weekend to go off of that."
QUOTING JUNIOR MARISA CERCHIO
On gutting out the five-set victory:
"It feels really good that we got another dub because we have been on kind of a rough start to ACC play," Cerchio said. "But I'm excited to see what steps our team takes the rest of the season building off of this in ACC play."
On her 14-kill, five-block outing and playing so well with her teammates:
"It was fun and I think the vibe on the court today was a lot better than Friday," Cerchio said. "We did a lot better job of playing together as a team and wanting to play for each other rather than for ourselves – that's what felt best."
NOTES
- Mosley, who had a career best in ACC matches of 26 digs (Oct. 4 at NC State), topped it by one this afternoon to set her new high in a league match and marked her second-most digs in a regular-season match (school-record 39 vs. Davidson).
- Cerchio recorded the second-most kills of her career in an ACC match, with being just one kill shy of tying her career-high 15 kills that she set on Sept. 27 at Virginia this fall. The Ohio native also had five blocks, tying her season high of five blocks against Elon on Sept. 6.
- With Smith's sixth double-double of the year, it now brings her total to 20 in her storied career. Smith has gotten a double-double in six of her last eight matches and is averaging 2.97 kills and 3.19 digs per set during that impressive eight-match stretch.
- Jackson, who coming into the weekend owned the second-most kills in the ACC among setters in league action, continued to shine when she decided to attack, getting six kills to mark her fourth five-plus kills match this year. She also almost had a double-double with nine digs.
- A couple big reasons on why Tech won the match were because of its ability to get points off its block and the service line. The Hokies had 12 blocks and nine aces, which were both highs this fall in ACC contests.
- The 12 blocks were tied for the second most in an ACC match for Tech in the Jill Wilson era and the most since Nov. 21, 2018, against Clemson. The nine aces were the second most as well and the most since Oct. 5, 2018, at Georgia Tech (10 aces), which ironically was the Hokies' last road win in ACC play.
- Young had a solid match all around, registering seven kills on a .375 hitting percentage and five blocks. The five blocks were a season high for her in ACC play and her most in a league match since her freshman year at Boston College (7 blocks, Oct. 27, 2017).
- Similar to Young's performance at Boston College, defensive specialist Abby McKinzie scooped up a season-high nine digs today, marking her most since Tech's trip to Boston College last year when she had 10 on Nov. 16.
UP NEXT
Tech will head back to Blacksburg to get ready for its third ACC weekend in October at home, playing host to [RV] Florida State (13-6, 5-3) on Friday, which is Tech's Vs. Cancer match, and Miami (Fla.) (8-10, 4-6) on Sunday. Both matches will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.Gallery: (10/27/2019) 2019 VOLLEYBALL AT WAKE FOREST
