BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech volleyball team knocked off the Duke Blue Devils in four sets (25-12, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18) Friday at home at Cassell Coliseum.
The win improved the Hokies' record to 11-14 overall and 4-10 in ACC play.
The Hokies attack was paced by Cera Powell, who finished with 13 kills on the day, and by Sarah Malinowski, who had 10 while hitting .364. Cara Lewis hit .471 with nine kills. Defensively, the Hokies had two players reach double figures in digs as Maddie Slagle had 18 and Hanna Borer had 14. From the front row, Cara Lewis contributed six blocks and Anabel Zier added five rejections. Tech posted 11 total blocks over the four sets.
Game Notes
» Sierra Cates had a match-high two aces in the win.
» Virginia Tech never trailed on the way to winning the first set 25-12 and second set 25-20.
» Cera Powell had a match-high 13 kills for Virginia Tech.
» Virginia Tech got a match-high 18 digs from Maddie Slagle.
» Virginia Tech attackers were helped by a team-high 37 assists from Hanna Borer.
How It Happened
The Hokies were hot in the first set, taking a 25-12 win to jump out to the 1-0 advantage. Tech hit a match-high .480 with 14 kills and held the Blue Devils to just a .069 hitting percentage. Powell and Malinowksi led the charge offensively, as Powell had six kills and Malinowski added five. The defense also recorded 14 digs in the first set, with Duke only recording six. Tech ended the set on a 4-0 run, capped off by a kill from Powell to take the first set with authority.
Virginia Tech won set two 25-20 to quickly take a 2-0 lead. The Hokies led from the first point on in the set to earn the victory. Virginia Tech opened up as much as a nine point lead at 19-10 before finishing off the set. The Virginia Tech offense also got a boost from three aces in the set and capitalizing on 10 Duke attacking errors. The Hokie block got going in the second set, recording six blocks, led by Cara Lewis with four. Tech had a perfect reception percentage in the second set, completing all 18 attempts.
Duke battled back and took the the third set to cut the Hokie lead two sets to one in the match. The Hokies fell in a back-and-forth battle, losing 25-23 in a set that featured nine lead changes and was tied 13 times. Neither team had a lead of more than three points along the way. Tech had their worst offensive performance in the third, hitting .196. The Duke offense got going, hitting a match-high .261 with 16 kills and only four errors.
Virginia Tech then responded to finish off the match with a 25-18 set-four victory. A strong showing on the attacking side led the Hokies to victory in the set. Virginia Tech registered a .323 attack percentage with 14 kills in the set win. The Hokies ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out the win. Zier and Ava Francis led the attack in the final set, each with four kills. Tech also added three more blocks and 16 digs in the set
The Hokies now have a week off, traveling to Virginia next week in a rematch of the Commonwealth Clash on Nov. 11.
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