LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Virginia Tech volleyball team fell to the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals in four sets (21-25, 13-25, 25-20, 18-25) Friday on the road at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
The loss dropped Virginia Tech’s record to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in ACC action.
Cera Powell finished with 12 kills on the day to lead the Hokies offense. Tech got 12 digs from Maddie Slagle to lead them defensively, as Slagle recorded her 1,000th career dig in the match. She leads the Hokies this season 245 digs. Jordan Hallman also got her first career start for the Hokies, recording four kills.
Game Notes
» Jordan Hallman had a match-high four aces in the loss.
» Cera Powell had a team-high 12 kills for Virginia Tech.
» Virginia Tech got a team-high 12 digs from Maddie Slagle.
» Virginia Tech attackers were helped by a team-high 27 assists from Hanna Borer.
How It Happened
The Hokies came out strong in set one, taking 11-6 an lead and forcing the Cardinals to call a timeout. A kill by Hallman and an attack error from the Cardinals capped the rally for Tech. Louisville came out of the timeout and grabbed the advantage for good at 17-16 in a set that was tied up eight times before the Cardinals took over in the second half. Tech hit .200 in the first set, with six different Hokies recording at least one kill.
A 25-13 second-set loss put Virginia Tech behind 2-0 in the match. Virginia Tech trailed by as many as 12 points as Louisville grabbed the advantage for good at 9-8. Louisville had its best offensive set in the second, recording a .429 hitting percentage with 15 kills. Amaya Tillman and Aiko Jones led the way with four kills apiece.
Virginia Tech rallied to win set three and make it a 2-1 match with a 25-20 set three win, propelled by a solid performance on the attacking side. Virginia Tech registered a .345 hitting percentage, its best of the match with 14 kills in the set win. The Hokies opened up a 20-13 lead in the set and held on for the win. The Virginia Tech offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza. Powell came out firing, with seven kills in the set and Slagle also recorded five of her digs in the third. Borer also helped out the offense with 10 assists.
Virginia Tech couldn’t build off the set-three victory and fell in set four 25-18 to drop the match. The Hokies battled, coming within two early in the set but the Cardinals built on the lead. Claire Chausee finished the fourth with five kills, leading the match with 18 total kills. Jones and Tillman also added 11 for the Cardinals.
The Hokies are back in action on Sunday, taking on Notre Dame at 1 p.m in South Bend on ACC Network.
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