November 4, 2006

Box Score

VT 3, UMD 2

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech volleyball team rebounded from a close five-game loss last night to Boston College with a five-game win over Maryland tonight, by scores of 30-25, 26-30, 30-12, 28-30 and 15-10.

Freshman Taylor Parrish led all players with 20 kills, while picking up a team-high 16 digs, marking her eighth career double-double. Senior Kendra Sytsma contributed a career-high 12 kills, while senior Allie Kupec hit a team-high .450 with 11 kills.

Freshman Michelle Lang dished out 52 assists, while juniors Amanda Cloyd and Rachel Dulla collected 14 and 12 digs, respectively. Cloyd also landed four service aces.

Katie Usher led the Terps with 17 kills and Jade Brown added 13. Tedi Doucet handed out 25 assists and collected 11 digs, while Beth Gillming led all players with 23 digs.

Tech opened game one with a 9-5 lead and used a three-point run to extend their lead to five, at 15-10. The Hokies never allowed the Terps to even the score throughout the game, although Maryland brought the score within one at 20-19. Kupec landed a kill for the Hokies, for their 21^st point, sparking a 10-5 run to end game one at 30-25.

Coming off a game one that allowed no tie scores, the two squads traded the lead seven times in game two. Maryland opened with a 6-2 lead, but the Hokies refused to let down as they tied the game at eight. Tech went on to take their first lead of the game at 10-9, but Maryland put together a four-point run to regain the lead at 14-12.

The game was then tied at every point from 16-16 until 23-23, before Maryland won two consecutive points to give them a 25-23 lead. A three-point run of the Terps then put them up 29-25. Parrish landed a kill to break the run, but Usher ended the game for Maryland with a kill, at 30-26.

The Hokies came out strong in game three, holding Maryland to just 12 points, a season-best for Tech. The Hokies opened the game on a 7-2 run and extended their lead to 10 at 19-9, before a seven-point run put them up 26-10, allowing them to cruise to a 30-12 game three win.

Maryland refused to back down though, as they fought for a 10-3 advantage in game four. The Hokies struggled to gain control as they fought to even the score at 17, and again at 18 and 19. Maryland, however, regained the advantage all three times, taking a 24-21 lead before the Hokies went on a 4-1 run to tie the game at 25-25, forcing a Maryland timeout.

The Terrapins won three-straight points out of the timeout before the Hokies responded with another three-straight points, to even the score once more, at 28. Maryland refused to give Tech a lead as they won the final two points to force a fifth game, at 30-28.

Sytsma came up strong in the middle of game five for the Hokies, as she landed back-to-back kills to break open a tie game, at 7-7. Sytsma landed another kill in the beginning of an 8-3 run, in favor of the Hokies, to put Tech on top 15-10, for the game and match.

The Hokies will travel to Florida for their next two contests. They will first face Miami, Fri., Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., before traveling to Florida State for a 1 p.m. match, on Sun., Nov. 12.