Hokies volleyball loses to Syracuse in five-set heartbreaker | Sports | collegiatetimes.com

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The Virginia Tech Hokies (7–13, 1–9 ACC) narrowly lost to the Syracuse Orange (13–9, 1–9 ACC) Sunday in a five-set thriller. With the loss, Virginia Tech has lost four straight games.

Despite a career-high 21 kills from sophomore Hailey Pearce, the Hokies narrowly lost to a Syracuse team that hadn’t won an ACC game since October 2022. Freshman Belle Patrick had a standout day with 14 kills, but her nine errors highlighted a mistake-filled game for the Hokies.

In the first set, Tech struggled out of the block, going down 7-1 early. But after three service aces from redshirt junior Jasmine Robinson, a kill from junior Jordan Hallman and an array of Syracuse attack errors, the Hokies scored nine unanswered points. Syracuse tied the game, and the match proceeded as a grind.

Neither team was able to score more than two consecutive points, and the game was tied up to 21 all. It was then that Tech pulled away as Hallman, junior Viktoria Wahlgren and Pearce put in kills to take the Hokies over the top. Tech won the set, 25-21, to go up 1–0.

The Hokies got out to an early 4-2 lead in the second set, but the Orange immediately went on a five-point run to take the lead back. From that point on, the set belonged to Syracuse. Tech got as close as two with an 11-9 score, but it collapsed amid six errors — three apiece from Wahlgren and Patrick.

The array of errors left the Hokies down 20-10. Tech used their blocking power from Robinson and junior Sarah Malinowski, who also contributed two kills, but after a bad set from freshman Erica Dellesky, Tech lost the set 25–16, tying the match at one set each. Tech’s hitting percentage in the set was abysmal, sitting at -7.4%.

The Hokies got right back to work in the third set, as Wahlgren delivered a swift service ace. Kills didn’t come easy to begin the frame, but Tech managed to run the score up off of Syracuse’s attack errors.Pearce, Patrick and Wahlgren did earn kills later, as the Hokies went up by seven points.

Facing an 18-11 score, the Orange went on a run, spotting gaps in the Hokies’ defense to score five consecutive points and forced a two-point game.Syracuse stalled out after this, however, and the Hokies went on a 7-3 run to win the set, 25-21. Tech led the entire set, paving the way for the score to go up 2–1.

Syracuse went up 10-4 to begin the fourth set following a mix of Hokies attack errors and Orange kills. Kills from Pearce, Patrick and Wahlgren kept the game from getting away, putting the score at 11-7. Down 17-11, another Patrick kill swung the momentum back in Tech’s favor and got it within two.

After a service error from freshman Nicole Zake, Tech was able to score four straight points to tie the game at 23. However, Syracuse capitalized off a Patrick service error and a bad set from defensive specialist Sierra Cates to win the fourth set 26-24 and tie the match at two sets apiece.

Like the third set, the Hokies began the final frame with a Wahlgren service ace, but the score remained deadlocked with swapping leads. But after three kills — two from Pearce and one from Patrick — the Hokies took a late 10-9 lead.

But the Orange’s offense was overwhelming. With the game tied at 13, Syracuse’s Skylar George scored two consecutive kills to ice the match. Despite a 61% hitting percentage in the final period, Tech lost the set 15-13, and the match.

Tech’s errors haunted them, and its 20% hitting percentage made the game much closer than was necessary. While Patrick scored 14 kills, she also had nine errors — over a third of the team’s total error count. This was a winnable match for Tech, and it failed to take advantage.

The Hokies can take solace in the fact that their best performer was a sophomore, an exciting outlook for the future.

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