Virginia Tech Volleyball Takes A Few More Steps Forward In Loss To Miami 

Dylan Tefft

Staff Writer

October 4, 2024

BLACKSBURG — To fall, to get back up, and to be struck down once again. That was the story for a young Virginia Tech (6-7, 0-3 ACC) team as Miami (10-4, 1-2) swept the Hokies in Cassell Coliseum on Friday night, 25–22, 25–16, 25–18. 

Here’s a play from the third and final set that sums up the loss:

A trio of Hokies — Leandra Mangual-Duran, Jordan Hallman and Belle Patrick — all dove for a Miami spike in front of the net. A miscommunication that led to a three-body crash, a mistake sure to end what had been an intense rally. 

But somehow, with three hands hitting the ball simultaneously, the triumvirate managed a miraculous return, and quickly returned to their positions behind a roaring crowd and a renewed sense of ambition. The rally continued. 

For all of two possessions. Miami’s Grace Lopez lasered a kill past Mangual-Duran, giving the Hurricanes an 11–4 lead in a set they would win 25–18 to cement their sweep.

Lopez finished with 14 kills. Her teammate, Flormarie Heredia Colon, had 16. The Canes’ attacking duo had a power and precision that a youthful Tech team hasn’t yet learned to deal with. 

Considering that inexperience —the Hokies played three freshmen while Miami only has two on its roster — perhaps the team isn’t overly upset with a loss that featured a 14–14 run following the aforementioned miscommunication or a 7–2 run to finish the second set. 

One would think that to be true if you saw the team following the game, choosing to sing and laugh through postgame stretches, then hang around to sign autographs for fans.

There’s satisfaction in progress, even if it comes in a total loss. 

Take Hokies freshman outside hitter Patrick, who had a team-high nine kills against the Hurricanes. She now trails star outside hitter Hailey Pearce for the season team-high by just five, with as many fewer sets played. 

Take fellow rookie Aisha Keric, who head coach Marci Byers trusted enough to sub in and serve for Virginia Tech down 24–22 in the closing possessions of set one. Keric smacked a service ace to Miami’s back-right corner, giving the Hokies a chance at their second won set in three games. 

Keric flubbed her next serve, then errored to end the set as Miami’s Bianka Luli challenged her with a fiery return. Patrick led the team with five errors at the end of the match. Baby steps. 

The first set was Tech’s introduction to the strength that the formerly ranked Hurricanes’ more seasoned team possessed. Heaters by Lopez, Heredia Colon and Ava Carney would constantly find their way to the back of the Hokies’ court before the defense could reach them. When they did, saves and digs would often go awry, running up Miami’s score — and Tech’s error count. 

Hokies libero Mangual-Duran struggled, letting Miami’s strikes carom off her arms and out of bounds, including a play that saw the graduate student dive for a would-be momentum-shifting dig midway through set one that landed just out of reach of her teammates. 

Mangual-Duran typically plays outside hitter, but with each true libero on the Hokies’ roster being a developing freshman, the graduate student was forced into a new role. 

That set — which ended 25–22 — included the game’s first glimpse of what this Virginia Tech team holds for the future. 

Down 20–14, the Hokies responded to a 5–1 Miami run with a 7–2 streak of their own. A Viktoria Wahlgren service ace injected energy into a Virginia Tech team that wouldn’t go down without a fight. Runs like those throughout the match gave Byers and her staff prospects for an exciting 2025 and beyond.

This season has been, and will continue to be, full of bumps and facepalm-inducing mistakes. But it has flashed hope as well — it’s the quintessential rebuild. 

The Hokies return to Cassell Coliseum for their next game, a bout with No. 16 Florida State on Sunday, Oct. 6 (1 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra).