Hokies defeat Syracuse for third-straight win, 3-1

Owens and McKinzie each register double-doubles

November 20, 2016

	1	2	3	4	F
Virginia Tech (12-17)	21	25	25	27	3
Syracuse (7-21)	25	19	22	25	1
Women's Building - 151 Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Senior Amanda McKinzie had a team-high 18 kills to go along with 18 digs and three service aces in the Virginia Tech volleyball team’s 3-1 win (21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 27-25) over Syracuse on Sunday afternoon.

Senior Lindsey Owens also notched a double-double for Tech with 15 kills and 18 digs. Sophomore Jaila Tolbert hit .300 with three blocks while sophomore Rhegan Mitchell tallied 45 assist with four digs and an ace. The Hokies (12-17, 7-11 ACC) have now won three matches in a row and four of their five last five.

After the Orange ( 7-21, 6-12 ACC) took the first set, Tech jumped out to an early lead before Syracuse cut the deficit to one, 8-7, forcing the Hokies to call a timeout. It was still a one-point game when the Hokies rattled off five-straight points, capped off by one of the freshman Carol Raffety’s three service aces, that extended the lead to 15-9. The Orange never got closer as Tech evened up the match at 1-1 with a convincing 25-19 win in the second frame.

With six kills through the first two games, Owens matched that total in the third set alone. With the score tied at 21-21 late in the third, the Hokies final four points that clinched the set came off of kills from Owens that helped put Tech ahead 2-1.

Syracuse tried to battle back and force a fifth set but the Hokies proved to be resilient in the final game of the match. Tech held match point at 24-23 before Syracuse countered with a kill that tied the score for the 13th time in the set. The score was knotted up again at 25-25 but a kill from McKinzie and an attack error gave the Hokies the 3-1 win.

The Hokies will wrap up the season this with road matches at Pitt on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Virginia on Saturday at 7 p.m.

MATCH NOTES

• Virginia Tech had eight team service aces in the win over Syracuse, tying the most for the Hokies in a single match this season. Tech also had eight aces in its 3-2 win over Temple (9/2).
• The climb to 1,000 kills continued for Amanda McKinzie as she’s now 17 kills shy from reaching the milestone
• Carol Raffety continues to close in on the program record for digs by a freshman as she’s now 23 digs away from matching Amanda Cloyd’s mark of 478 digs set back in 2004.
• Raffety also set a career-high with three service aces against Syracuse, topping her previous high of two which she has done twice this season.
• After her five-block performance against the Orange, junior Cara Cunningham has now recorded five or more blocks in 11 matches this season.
• Sophomore Kelly Esch set a career-high with five blocks, breaking her previous personal best of three that she has done in three matches.

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