Hokies fall on the road to North Carolina, 3-1

Talamazzi records her sixth double-double of the season

October 13, 2017

Box Score (PDF)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In front of a record crowd of 19,246, the most in NCAA volleyball history, three Virginia Tech volleyball players tallied 10-plus kills, but it was not enough as preseason ACC favorite North Carolina won, 3-1, inside the Smith Center Friday evening.

The trio, made up of Kaity Smith (19 kills), Ester Talamazzi (11) and Jaila Tolbert (11), combined for 41 of Tech’s (7-11, 1-6 ACC) 53 kills on the night versus the Tar Heels (8-7, 5-2 ACC).

Starting the match on the right foot, the Hokies earned the early advantage, 6-5, before a North Carolina timeout. Out of the break, play would go back and forth with each team scoring eight points to make it 14-13, and then Tech got hot and went on a 7-1 run, forcing another UNC timeout. With the score at 21-14, Carolina would make a run of its own cutting the Hokies’ lead to two, 24-22, but the freshmen pair of Kai Young and Smith rose to the occasion and blocked a Tar Heel to claim the first set, 25-22.

After a Carol Raffety ace and a Talamazzi kill to bring the score to 8-all, Carolina would go on a 7-3 run before a media timeout. UNC would continue scoring to make its lead 18-13, however, Smith rattled off three-straight kills to cut the deficit to two. The two-point differential at 18-16 would be the closest Tech could trim it as the Tar Heels went on to win the second stanza, 25-21.

Knotted at 7-7 to begin the third frame following a Rhegan Mitchell ace, UNC would score six of the next seven points, causing a Tech timeout. The Tar Heels would keep the momentum after the pause in action, pushing its lead to 19-10, forcing Tech to burn another timeout. Head coach Jill Wilson’s squad went on a 7-4 run to make Carolina call a timeout at 23-17, but UNC scored two more to win 25-20.

In the final frame, the Tar Heels jumped out to a 7-2 lead, then a 14-5 lead. The Hokies did dig deep though, scoring seven consecutive points to cut it to a two-point deficit behind four kills in a row from Smith. UNC responded with scoring four-straight to make it 18-12 and the lead would be too much for the Hokies as they fell 25-16 in the fourth set.

NOTES

- Smith recorded 19 kills on the night, marking her most since Sept. 9 against Toledo. The outside hitter hit. 302, which is the fourth time this fall she has hit over .300.

- Mitchell dished out 43 assists, her third-straight 40-plus match, and posted eight digs and a kill. The Georgia native has had at least one kill in four out of her last five matches.

- Talamazzi turned in her sixth double-double of the year, racking up 11 kills and 15 digs.

- Young followed up her best match of the season (career highs - four kills, three blocks) against Notre Dame with another strong performance, chipping in two kills and tying a career-high three blocks.

- Tolbert hit north of .400 for the third match in a row, which was the best hitting percentage on the team tonight (.421). The junior put down 11 kills and had two blocks.

- Raffety recorded her 10th-straight match of 10-plus digs, recording 11 to move her season total to 256.

- Redshirt senior Stacey Christy hit .333 on her way to seven kills. The Maryland native has posted 18 kills in her last three matches at the middle blocker spot.

- Defensive specialist Rhana Mitchell scooped up a season-high six digs, topping her previous mark of three against Milwaukee on Aug. 26.

STAT OF THE MATCH

- Similar to the Florida State match on Sept. 24, the Hokies outplayed their opponent in three major categories statistically, despite taking a loss. Tech earned 53 kills, 50 assists and 50 digs compared to UNC’s 52 kills, 44 assists and 46 digs.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Set 1 | #Hokies 🏐 stay 🔥

Tech extends its lead to 21-14, TO UNC

Talamazzi is up to five kills, while Mitchell has dished out 10 assists

— VT Volleyball (@VT_VBall) October 13, 2017

WHAT IS NEXT

The Hokies will continue their stay in the Tar Heel State, taking on NC State on Sunday at 2 p.m. The match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

For updates on Virginia Tech volleyball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_VBall and on Instagram @vthokievolleyball