Tweet

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech volleyball team defeated the No. 25 Florida State University Seminoles on Friday night to claim its first victory over an AVCA Top-25 team in school history. The 3-2 (25-15, 27-25, 20-25, 23-25, 15-13) victory, which nearly mirrored the Hokies' 5-set loss to the Seminoles back in September, was just Tech's third win over Florida State in program history. The win lifted the Hokies to 15-7 (6-6 ACC) and dropped the Seminoles to 15-7 (7-5 ACC).

Justine Record had a career outing, matching her career high of 26 kills (Clemson, Nov. 17, 2009) and earning a career-high 20 digs for the Hokies’ first 20-20 since Taylor Parrish had 21 kills and 24 digs against Wake Forest on Nov. 18, 2006. As a team, the Hokies had a season-high 78 kills, 74 assists and 77 digs. The 74 assists are the most for the Hokies since notching 76 on Nov. 7, 2003 in a 3-2 loss at No. 12 Notre Dame.

The Hokies eclipsed the Seminoles in nearly every statistical category, with 20 more kills, 22 more assists, 12 more digs, eight more blocks and out-hit them .324 to .181. However, the Hokies gave the Seminoles 17 free points, registering 17 service errors while the Seminoles did not have any. Both teams had three aces.

The Hokies came out hungry, defeating the Seminoles 25-15 in the first set for their largest margin of victory in a set in school history over Florida State or a ranked team. Tech opened the set with an 11-4 lead, which they held onto for the remainder of the set. The Hokies hit .412 in the set with 16 kills while holding the Seminoles to just .028.

The Seminoles took the early lead in the second set, winning five of the first six points for a 5-1 lead. Florida State maintained a steady lead throughout the set, until three straight Tech points tied the score at 17. The teams traded points over the next six plays, and soon it was tied at 20. The Seminoles won three straight to make in 23-20, but back-to-back kills from Cara Baarendse and a third from Jennifer Wiker tied it at 23, and a Visnja Djurdjevic attack error made it set-point for the Hokies. However, Djurdjevic came back with a kill on the next play to tie it at 24. A kill by Felicia Willoughby put the Hokies up 25-24, but Djurdjevic smashed her ninth kill of the night to tie it at 25. Wiker put Tech back on top 26-25 with her fifth kill of the set, and Record closed it out with her 11^th kill of the match, handing the Hokies a 27-25 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

In similar fashion to the two teams’ previous meeting, after the home team went up 2-0, the visitors fought back to win the next two sets, in this case 25-20 then 25-23, forcing the match into a fifth frame.

Florida State had the first lead in the tiebreaker, going up 3-1, before the Hokies pushed ahead 5-4. Neither team had a lead more than one over the next 15 plays, and soon it was 12-12. A kill by Baarendse and a blocking error by Jekaterina Stepanova put the Hokes up 13-12, and a ball handling error by Particia Figueiredo made it a Tech match-point. Stepanova forced a kill on the next play to make it 14-13, but an attack error by Djurdjevic closed out the sequel to the epic battle of Sept. 26, handing the Hokies their first victory over a ranked team in Tech’s 34-year history.

Record led the match in kills, tying her career high with 26, the most for a Hokie all season. Record was second to Morgan O’Neill in digs, registering 20 and 24, respectively, and Record hit a solid .375 on attack with a service ace and a block solo. Baarendse was second on the team with 18 kills, followed by Willoughby and Wiker with 12 and 11, respectively, and Victoria Hamsher with nine. Erin Leaser had a career-high 68 assists, which is the most since Melissa Markowski notched 70 against Rutgers on Oct. 13, 2002. Kirsten Higareda rounded out the defense with a career-high 18 digs. The Hokies combined for 14 total blocks, including six block assists from Willoughby and five blocks, two solo, from both Hamsher and Wiker.

The Hokies hope to keep up their strong play Saturday night when they take on the University of Miami Hurricanes in an ACC competition in Cassell Coliseum beginning at 6 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech volleyball, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_VBall).