hokies take down wofford in straight sets

Colby Talley

Staff Writer

September 17, 2021

BLACKSBURG — It’s always been one of the main objectives for any successful team: Get it done at home.

Virginia Tech (9-2) did just that on Friday night as it claimed its fifth straight home win and its second victory of the Hokie Invite over Wofford (5-6).

“I thought we played some good volleyball tonight,” Hokies’ head coach Marci Byers said. “We were a little up and down, but overall I thought we did some very nice things.”

The Terriers came out swinging to lead off the first set as they built up an 8-5 lead courtesy of five total errors from the home squad.

Despite the slow start, Hokies’ outside hitter Mekenzi Heckmann managed to spark momentum for her team as she scored two kills in three rallies. From there, Tech scored eight times in the next ten rallies to gain a lead it would hold for the rest of the set.

The second set saw the Hokies find themselves in a similar situation as the Terriers climbed to a 12-8 lead midway through the frame.

Thankfully for Byers and the Hokies, they would once again rekindle their offense coming out of the media timeout and cut the deficit down to a single score.

However, unlike the first set, the Terriers didn’t allow themselves to be overtaken so easily as they managed to hang on to a one score advantage for most of the frame.

Both teams eventually fought their way to a 24-24 deuce where back-to-back kills from Cierra Huntley and Griere Hughes would grant the Hokies their second set victory.

“We just needed to play clean,” Byers said when asked what she was telling her team in the second set. “Those are the types of moments we need to want to play for and not shy away from.”

When asked about the team’s mentality when fighting back in the first two sets, Hughes cited its grit and ability to stay “chill” in the face of pressure.

“We don’t want a whole bunch of chaos on the court,” Hughes said. “So if you just stay neutral and chill then you should win the game.”

The third set finally featured a reversal of fates as the Hokies took an early 12-8 advantage. Unlike the Terriers’ advantages from the first two frames, this lead would hold strong as Tech ended the match with a 25-13 victory in the third set.

The Hokies will look forward to Saturday when they play the other squad with two wins at the Hokie Invite in the form of North Carolina A&T. The match will take place at 3 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.