Seniors lead Hokies to 3-0 sweep of Wake Forest

Owens and McKinzie each finish with double-digit kills

November 13, 2016

	1	2	3	F
Wake Forest (9-18)	22	16	19	0
Virginia Tech (10-17)	25	25	25	3
Cassell Coliseum - 404 Box Score Photo Gallery

BLACKSBURG – Seniors Lindsey Owens and Amanda McKinzie each registered double-doubles to help lift the Virginia Tech volleyball team (10-17, 5-11 ACC) to a 3-0 win over Wake Forest (25-22, 25-16, 25-19) in their final match at Cassell Coliseum as Hokies on Sunday afternoon.

Owens had a team-high 20 digs to go along with 15 kills and McKinzie racked up 12 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Jaila Tolbert hit .467 (9-2-15) while junior Cara Cunningham led Tech at the net with five blocks

Tech trailed 5-1 early in the first set but used a 4-1 rally to cut the deficit to one, 6-5. An attack error on the Deacons and a kill from McKinzie gave the Hokies their first lead at 8-7 and they did not relinquish it. The lead ballooned to seven after two kills from McKiznie and one from Tolbert, their largest of the game, en route to a 25-22 win in the first set.

The Hokies rolled to a 25-16 win in the second frame where they turned in a 75 percent sideout percentage. It was also a block party for Cunningham as she tallied four of her five blocks in the second and gave Tech a 2-0 lead heading into the break on a block assist alongside sophomore Kelly Esch.

With Wake Forest hanging in at 7-5 in the third set, Tech used a 3-0 spurt that saw kills from Owens, Esch and sophomore Rhegan Mitchell to extend its lead to 10-5 and forcing Wake to call a timeout. The Deacons would cut the lead to one, 15-14, but a 7-1 run put them all but out of it as the Hokies finished out the win on Senior Day.

Tech will next travel to Boston College on Nov. 18 before taking Syracuse at 1 p.m. on Nov. 20.

MATCH NOTES

• McKinzie, Owens and Katie Krueger were each honored before their final game at Cassell for their outstanding careers as Hokies on the court, in the classroom and in the community.
• McKinzie’s 12 kills puts her at 950 for her career, 50 short of 1,000 with four matches left in the season.
• Owens’ team-high 20 digs marked her second 20+ dig performance this season, her first since Sept. 28 vs. Pitt.
• Esch tallied four blocks, one solo and three assisted, breaking her previous career-high of three.
• Junior Rhana Mitchell finished with four digs and two assists, a career-high.
• Cunningham’s five block afternoon marked her 10th five-plus block performance of the season.

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