Strong defense late not enough for the Hokies in the loss at Georgia Tech

Owens posts 12 kills and 12 digs for her 12th double-double

November 4, 2016

	1	2	3	F
Virginia Tech (8-16)	14	24	24	0
Georgia Tech (20-5)	25	26	26	3
O'Keefe Gym - 902 Box Score

ATLANTA -- Despite two hard-fought second and third sets, the Virginia Tech volleyball team (8-16, 3-10 ACC) could not get past one of the top home teams in the ACC in Georgia Tech, 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 26-24), on Friday evening in Atlanta.

Senior Lindsey Owens turned in 12 kills and 12 digs and classmate Amanda McKinzie posted a team-high 13 kills for the Hokies. Junior Cara Cunningham hit .500 (6-2-8) while sophomore Jaila Tolbert tallied tied for the match-high with four blocks. The Yellow Jackets (20-5, 11-2 ACC) have now won 10 in a row.

After dropping the first set, the Hokies jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set that featured a service ace from junior Rhana Mitchell and a kill from Tolbert. Georgia Tech battled back to cut the deficit to one but Tech responded with three-consecutive kills from Owens that made it 11-6 and forced the Jackets to call a timeout.

The game went back-and-forth after Georgia Tech tied it at 15-15 but, with the score knotted up at 23-23, a kill from McKinzie gave the Hokies set point. The second-place team in the ACC countered, though, with a 3-1 run to go up 2-0 in the match.

The two teams went blow-for-blow in the third set as well. Georgia Tech created some separation at 22-19 but the Hokies would not go down quietly. Tech rattled off three-straight points to tie it up at 22-22 and knotted it up again at 24-24 after an ace from freshman Carol Raffety. But it wouldn’t be enough as the Jackets pulled away with 26-24 win in the third to complete the sweep.

The Hokies next travel to Clemson for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday that will be streamed on the WatchESPN platform.

MATCH NOTES

• With her five kills in the first set, McKinzie went over 900 kills for her career and now has 910.
• Owens now has 12 double-doubles on the season.
• Sophomore Rhegan Mitchell, who had missed the last 16 matches before last weekend with an injury, registered her first start since Sept. 3 against Texas A&M.
• Freshman Melody Caloyannides picked her first career start on Friday evening.
• After allowing Georgia Tech to hit at a high clip in the first set, the Hokies held the Jackets to percentages of .139 in the second and .103 in the third game.

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