Alia skinner earns national player of the week honors

Patrick Campbell

October 6, 2020

Virginia Tech’s freshman keeper Alia Skinner was recognized as the National Player of the Week by the United Soccer Coaches after lifting the Hokies to their first victory on Sunday.

Skinner tallied a career best 12 saves and her first career shutout against No. 14 Pittsburgh after not playing on Thursday against No. 2 Florida State. This marks the most saves ever by a Virginia Tech keeper in an ACC match and the most by any ACC player this year. She made three massive saves down the stretch to allow the Hokies to tack on an insurance goal, securing a 2-0 upset win.

This is only the third time for a women’s soccer player at Virginia Tech to receive this honor from the coaches association. The Florida native was also chosen as the ACC Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week making her the first Hokie freshman to win the award as a goalkeeper. She is just the third Tech freshman to win either the offensive or defensive weekly award since Virginia Tech joined the ACC.

Skinner now leads the ACC with 43 saves, including 8.6 saves per game which leads the nation. She is just 12 saves behind the nation's leader in saves who has played in 10 matches this season.

Virginia Tech travels to Durham to face No. 11 Duke on Friday at 7 p.m for a non-conference match.