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 NC State (11-3) | 25 | 13 | 23 | 24 | 1 |
 Virginia Tech (10-4) | 15 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 3 |
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BLACKSBURG – Led by outside hitters Lindsey Owens and Amanda McKinzie, Virginia Tech fought back to a 3-1 win over NC State on Sunday afternoon, clinching the first conference win of 2015. Despite a rocky start, the Hokies responded with straight-set wins to secure the final decision. Tech improves to 10-4, 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, dropping the Wolfpack to 11-3, 0-2 in ACC play.
The pair of juniors downed double-digit kills for the squad. Owens’ 15 and McKinzie’ 14 accounted for over half of the Hokies’ 56 kills in the contest. Middle blockers Kennedy Bryan and Jaila Tolbert downed an additional eight and seven kills, respectively. Kenedy McGrath collected a team-best 19 kills, while McKinzie tallied 11 to record her seventh double-double of the year.
NC State’s Blayke Hranicka and Kaitlyn Kearney paced the Wolfpack, recording 13 kills each. Tanna Aljoe followed up with 12 kills. Libero Rachel Eppley registered 15 digs to lead the Wolfpack’s defense.
The Wolfpack ran away with the early lead to open the match. Middle blockers Bryan and Cara Cunningham downed three kills apiece to put the Hokies on the board in set one. However, NC State’s 10 blocks in set one kept the Hokies back to secure the set one decision, 15-25.
Tech bounced back in set two, attacking at a powerful .583 clip while holding the Wolfpack to .074. McKinzie went 5-for-7 in the frame with two digs. NC State called a timeout in attempt to breakup the Hokies’ six-point rally. However, Tech prevailed and closed out the 25-13 set win with a block by Bryan and Battle.
The Hokies and Wolfpack went back-and fourth in the third frame with eight tie scores and three lead changes late in the set. Tolbert attacked at a .750 clip in the stanza. Owens closed out the set with one of her five kills to clinch the 25-23 result.
Tech fell behind to a five-point deficit early in the final set. The Wolfpack maintained its lead through the 10-15 mark with Hranicka’s six kills in the frame. However, the Hokies showed their fight, inching back one point at a time to even up the score at 21-all. Mirroring set three, Owens slugged the final kill to secure Tech’s first ACC win of the season, 26-24.
Tech return to action, taking on Pitt in a midweek matchup at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum and close out their six-match home series.
For updates on Virginia Tech volleyball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_VBall
and on Instagram @vthokievolleyball
