Oct. 14, 2006

Hokies Rally for 3-1 Win over Miami

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech volleyball team won the first game and dropped the second before rallying to win the final two games in a 3-1 win over Miami Saturday evening. The Hokies improve to 11-8 on the season, 5-5 in the ACC, while the Hurricanes fall to 6-12 overall, 3-6 in the ACC.

The Hokies had season-highs with 75 kills, a .295 attack percentage and 63 assists on the evening. Senior Katie Esbrook led the attack with a match-high 18 kills. Freshman Taylor Parrish chipped in 16 kills, while sophomore Sarah Muñoz registered her ninth double-double this season with 13 kills and 11 digs.

Francheska Savage led the Hurricanes with 13 kills and a match-high seven blocks. Ann Gallo and Lauren Rinderknecht picked up 16 and 14 digs, respectively, while Jill Robinson handed out 43 assists.

Tech out-hit Miami .295 to .167 and had 75 kills compared to the Hurricanes' 58. The Hokies led in digs, 64-58, but were out-blocked 10-8.

Clemson Wins Seventh Straight, Downs North Carolina 3-0

Clemson, SC - Clemson ended a drought that dated to 1999 after the Tiger volleyball team defeated North Carolina 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 37-35) Saturday evening at Jervey Gym. The Tigers had lost 15 consecutive matches to the Tar Heels. Clemson's win was the seventh straight for Jolene Hoover's squad, as the team improved to 12-4 (7-1 in the ACC). Clemson is also now 8-1 at home this season, and Saturday's win was the first for the Tigers at home since the 1997 season. North Carolina fell to 4-14 (2-7 ACC) with the loss.

Danielle Hepburn led the Tigers on Saturday, posting a season-high 10 blocks in the match that saw Clemson record its ACC season-best 17.0 total blocks. She also had 14 kills and a .467 hitting percentage. She also did not commit an attack error for the second straight night. Also contributing to the Tiger cause was Jeannette Abbott with a double-double (14 kills, 16 digs). She had a season-best with those 16 defensive saves. Leslie Mansfield was also solid Saturday, contributing nine kills, 12 digs, and three blocks. Meghan Steiner had seven blocks in the match as well, one shy of her career-high.

Wake Forest Fires Past Boston College in Four Games

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest rallied back from an opening-game loss for the second straight night to notch a four-game win over Boston College in ACC action Saturday evening at Reynolds Gymnasium. The Demon Deacons, who have won six of their last seven matches, downed the Eagles 28-30, 30-24, 30-26, 30-25.

Wake improves to 11-7 overall and 7-2 in the ACC with the victory. BC drops to 6-12 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

Senior libero Natasha Schaefer set a milestone in the match, moving into sole possession of second place on Wake Forest's all-time career digs list. Schaefer was six digs behind Katie Horne (1996-99) entering the match. She tied Horne with six digs in the first game and then passed her with a pair in the second.

Georgia Tech Sweeps N.C. State Volleyball, 3-0

ATLANTA - Callie Miller had 10 kills while hitting .500 to lead Georgia Tech (10-8, 2-6 ACC) to its second-straight 3-0 (30-20, 30-22, 30-18) victory in as many nights as the Yellow Jackets defeated N.C. State (2-16, 0-9 ACC) Saturday at O'Keefe Gymnasium.

Miller had 10 kills in 16 attempts and also recorded two blocks and a dig in the Yellow Jacket victory, while Lindsey Gray and Ulrike Stegemann recorded eight and seven kills, respectively.

Gray led Tech's defense, recording eight digs against the Pack, while Michelle Kandell and Allie Niekamp added seven apiece. Niekamp ran the Yellow Jacket offense, posting 36 assists on the night.

Florida State Volleyball Stays Hot, Sweeping Road Trip With 3-0 Blanking of Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - One night after matching its win total from a year ago, the Florida State University volleyball team firmly supplanted itself as a contender in the race for the Atlantic Coast Conference title. The Seminoles showed tremendous poise in critical times late in the all three games as they came away with a 3-0 sweep (30-26, 30-27, 32-30) of Virginia on Saturday (October 14).

Florida State ran its winning streak to four matches - and won for the eighth time in nine matches -- as it improved to 14-4 overall and continued the school's best ACC start with an 8-1 mark. The win was FSU's first at Virginia since 2002 and its first sweep in Charlottesville since 1993. The Cavaliers dropped to 13-6 overall, 6-4 in the league as they lost at home for the first time in 2006.