September 26, 2014
Tech falters at Wake Forest in ACC opener
Owens leads a trio of Hokies in double-digit kills

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Virginia Tech volleyball team to Wake Forest to five sets, but the Demon Deacons held on for the 3-2 (22-25, 25-17, 15-25, 25-17, 10-15) on Friday evening in the ACC opener in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Lindsey Owens led the Hokies (7-7, 0-1 ACC) with 15 kills. Amanda McKinzie had a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs while Kathryn Caine posted 10 kills. Jordan Fish and Kyra Coundourides put up 24 and 23 assists, respectively.

Ashley Battle tallied five blocks at the net for the Hokies.

The two teams kept it close in the opening set and were tied at 114-14 before the Hokies scored the next two to take the 16-14 lead off a kill from Katie Krueger. Tech extended its lead at 18-15, but the Deacs tied it back up at 18. Tech and Wake traded points over the next several rallies and were tied up at 22. The Deacs went on a 3-0 run to close out the set, winning 25-22.

In the second set, the Hokies came out strong, taking a 15-11 lead just past the midway point as Megan Beckwith tallied an ace. Wake Forest closed it to a one-point game at 17-16, but the Hokies again responded, scoring the next five points to go on top 22-16. Wake got just one more point as the Hokies claimed the set off back-to-back kills from McKinzie.

Tech and Wake again kept it close in the early points with the Deacs holding the slight 12-11 lead before going on a 3-0 run to extend it to 14-11. The Hokies were unable to get anything going offensively and Wake pushed ahead to go up 18-12. The Hokies scored just three more points in the final rallies, giving Wake the points for the 25-15 win in the third.

The Hokies and Demon Deacons were again tied midway through the set at 14-14. Tech broke open the scoring with three straight points, taking the 17-14 advantage off a kill from Owens. Virginia Tech closed out the set with an 8-3 run to win 25-17 and knot the match at two sets each.

In the final set, the two teams were tied at 5-5 before Wake Forest used a 7-0 run, which included a trio of aces from Sam Boesch, to take the 12-5 lead. The Hokies cut it down to four at 14-10, but a Tech error gave Wake the point to secure the set and the match.

Jazmen Russell led Wake Forest (11-4, 1-0 ACC) with 16 kills. Matalee Reed posted 10. Caroline Wolf led the defense with 14 digs while Ashlee Rusk had four blocks.

The Hokies will return to the court on Friday, Oct. 3, hosting ACC newcomer Louisville at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.

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