Basketball
The Virginia Tech Women’s team will be holding an Orange & Maroon public scrimmage this Sunday at 1:30 pm in Cassell Coliseum. Come out and get an early look at the Hokies, who added the 28th ranked recruiting class in the nation this offseason.
The Men’s team has made it’s first appearance in the top-25 since the end of the 2006-2007 season, checking in at #23 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. This is the first preseason ranking for the Hokies since the beginning of the 1995-1996 season. Tech was also picked to finish second in the ACC, the highest preseason ACC ranking ever for the Hokies.
Three members of the Virginia Tech 2011 recruiting class played their first scrimmage together last night in a game that featured two of the nations best prep schools. Gobbler Country has a recap from Thursday night’s scrimmage between Hargrave Military Academy and Oak Hill Academy. C.J. Barksdale, Robert Brown, Marquis Rankin, and Tech’s newest commit Dorian Finney-Smith will be eligible to sign a National Letter of Intent on November 10th.
Volleyball
Last week:
The Hokies needed a win last weekend badly. Against ACC leader Duke on Thursday night, Tech was going to have to bring the A-game to compete with the Blue Devils, and they went above and beyond that. The Hokies played a nearly flawless game to not only beat, but dominate Duke, who was ranked 9th in the RPI and 26th in the coaches’ poll. Senior Amy Wengrenovich re-joined the back row and the Hokies defense made play after play, setting up the offense for an explosive night. Attackers Felicia Willoughby, Cara Baarendse, and Justine Record combined for 46 kills and only 4 errors while stuffing 8 total blocks. Tech sent the Blue Devils packing with a 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 25-17) pounding, and probably could have beaten any team in the country the way they played.
Tech kept the momentum going Friday night in front a large crowd which honored senior middle blocker Felicia Willoughby before the game for setting two new career records in block assists and total blocks. Against the visiting Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Tech used a balanced attack and got better and better defensively as the match went on. Junior setter Erin Leaser had a career game, registering 34 assists, 11 digs, and 9 kills, one shy of a triple-double. As a team, the Hokies hit .350 to defeat Wake 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-12) and pull back within 1 game of .500 in ACC play.
Up next:
Tonight Tech will travel to Chapel Hill, NC to face the 16-6 (7-2 ACC) North Carolina Tar Heels in Carmichael Arena. The Tar Heels aren’t a particularly strong blocking team, but rank 9th in the country in digs per set. Tech ranks second in the ACC in hitting percentage (.255) and UNC ranks second defensively, only allowing opponents to hit .159. The Hokies are 1-9 all time at UNC, but if Tech continues to play as they did last weekend, history is out the window. On Saturday evening the Hokies will try for their 13th straight win over NC State. Since 2005, the Hokies have swept the Wolfpack 8 times, including each of the past 3 meetings. NC State (12-9, 2-7 ACC) is led by 6’1” middle blocker Margaret Salata, who is averaging 1.17 blocks per set and hitting .310 on the season.
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