RALEIGH, N.C. – Despite two Hokies with 20-plus digs and three with double-digit kills, the Virginia Tech volleyball team came up short in five sets at NC State on Friday night inside Reynolds Coliseum.
Seeking its first win in Raleigh since 2013, the Hokies (7-9, 0-3 ACC) clawed back after dropping two of the first three sets, but the Wolfpack (6-10, 1-3) had other plans in the fifth, getting their first league win of the season.
Tech, which defensively got big performances from freshman Logan Mosley (26 digs) and junior Kylie Thomas (22), was paced by junior Kaity Smith and her first double-double of the season, tallying 14 kills and a season-high 16 digs.
THE MATCH
Knotted at 11-11 to begin the match, State scored three straight to give itself a cushion it would not relent. Tech cut it to one at 18-17 after a kill by freshman Anabel Zier, but the Pack finished on a 7-2 run to win it 25-19.
The second set alone was a doozy, as seven ties and three lead changes took place. Trailing by five at 17-12, the Hokies came out of a timeout and went to work, chipping away at the deficit to make it a one-point frame at 19-18 State. But Tech wasn't done yet, scoring five of the next eight points to take a 23-22 advantage, quieting the crowd and causing the Pack to take a timeout. After things would go back and forth, Tech closed the door in the end with a block by freshman Cera Powell to claim it 28-26.
Momentum would change very quickly though in the third stanza, as State jumped out to a 7-1 lead, forcing a Hokie timeout. But that would not stop the Pack's mojo, stretching their lead to 12 at 18-6 to make Tech burn another timeout. Out of the break, things stayed all State as it went on to win 25-12.
Things seesawed all the way up to 10-all before tech stormed off scoring five of the next seven points, taking a three-point lead into the media timeout at 15-12. State would rebound, though, getting three straight to tie it up, but that would spark a Hokie run, with them not looking back to win 25-20 in the fourth.
The fifth got off to a four-point Pack lead, owning an 8-4 advantage as the two teams switched sides. And when they exchanged benches, State got into a rhythm and scored seven of the next eight points to win 15-5.
QUOTING TECH COACH JILL WILSON
On how the team responded in the fourth set being down 2-1 and the rest of the match:
"At times our team plays with great passion and fire, but we can't sustain it long enough," Tech coach Jill Wilson said. "What we really have to do is challenge ourselves and our team to risk and go for it at clutch moments. We have not broken through that yet."
On the performances of defensive specialist Kylie Thomas and libero Logan Mosley:
"I thought they did a really nice job of responding to change in NC State's lineup," Wilson said. "They made a few adjustments and both of them have been really steady back there throughout the whole season. I've been very pleased with that."
NOTES
- After not playing libero in her last match at No. 4 Pitt (14-1, 3-0) due to injury, Mosley returned to the lineup tonight and didn't miss a beat, recording her second-highest dig total with 26. The North Carolina native now has five matches of 20-plus digs.
- Thomas' career-high 22 digs marked her ninth time this season with double-digit digs and the 12th time of her career. She now has five matches in a row of the 10-dig plus variety, a first in her career to average 3.43 digs per set over that five-match stretch.
- The three Hokies with double-digit kills were Smith (14), Powell (14) and junior Marisa Cerchio (10). Zier also chipped in nine, marking Tech's first match this season with four players owning nine or more kills in a single match.
- Sophomore Talyn Jackson, a setter, reset her career high with seven kills, while dishing out 44 assists to go along with getting five digs and two blocks. Jackson has been feeling it at the net as of late, putting down 14 kills her last three matches.
- Sophomore Angel Robinson made an appearance for the first time since Sept. 13 and did well, recording her second-most kills of the season with three.
UP NEXT
Tech will stay in the Tar Heel State for its next match, taking on North Carolina (4-9, 1-2) Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Gallery: (10/4/2019) 2019 VOLLEYBALL at NC STATE