VOLLEYBALL TIED FOR FIRST IN ACC
The Virginia Tech volleyball team split its matches again this weekend, losing to Florida State on Friday and defeating Miami on Saturday. The Seminoles shocked the Hokies in Cassell Coliseum, sweeping Tech in straight sets, 23-25, 22-25 and 23-25.
FSU's height advantage allowed it to dominate the net, and the Hokies were unable to consistently score on offense.
On Saturday, the Hokies regained their form from earlier in the season, dominating Miami in four sets, 25-18, 19-25, 25-17, and 25-20. Sophomore Felicia Willoughby led the team in kills with 17 while hitting a .593 attack percentage.
With the split this weekend, the Hokies are now 17-5 overall and 8-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, putting them in a three-way tie for first place.
After two shaky weekends at home, the Hokies must go on the road for important matches against Clemson and Georgia Tech, both of which lost to Tech earlier in the year in Blacksburg.
The Yellow Jackets remain within striking distance of the Hokies at 7-4 in conference and Clemson is tied for the ACC lead with Tech and Duke.
The Hokies return to Cassell on Nov. 7 to face North Carolina State.
-- by Joe Crandley
MEN'S SOCCER KNOCKED OFF BY HIGH POINT
Tech's men's soccer team lost its final non-conference game of the season Saturday night as it was defeated by the High Point Panthers, 2-1, in High Point, N.C. It's the Hokies' third loss in a row and drops their record to 5-10-1.
Starting his third different goalie in the past three games, head coach Oliver Weiss looked to junior Brendan Dunn to defend the net for the Hokies.
Dunn, who had not seen action between the pipes in the past nine games, lasted only a half. He was quickly pulled by Weiss after surrendering two goals to the Panthers.
Freshman goalie Thomas St. Germain played somewhat better, keeping the Panthers scoreless in the second half and making three saves.
The Hokies did not get on the board until the 70th minute when senior midfielder Scott Dillie volleyed a shot from 15 feet out.
Freshman forward Emmanuel Akogyeram and junior midfielder James Gilson led the Hokies with three shots apiece.
Frustration set in for Tech in the second half as Dillie and freshman defender Jan Hausfeld received yellow cards for illegal fouls.
In the final minutes of the game, Hausfeld followed up his previous penalty with another, consequently receiving a red card and an ejection from the game.
Both teams delivered 10 shots and four saves in the contest.
-- by Ed Lupien
WOMEN'S SOCCER DOWNED BY EAGLES
Despite taking a 1-0 lead into the half, the Tech women's soccer team fell, 2-1, to the No. 13 Boston College Eagles on Sunday afternoon in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The team is now 9-6-2 overall and 3-3-2 in the ACC.
At the 25:34 mark of the first half, junior Emily Jukich scored to put the Hokies on top with her 13th goal of the season.
Jukich is Tech's leading scorer, also tallying one assist to give her 27 total points this season. Junior Julian Johnson, who already owns Tech's career assist record, added to the mark with her seventh assist of the season. Johnson now has 24 assists and 13 total points this fall.
The Hokies outshot the Eagles 9-5 in the first period, and Eagles goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni made five saves, while Tech goalkeeper, true freshman Kristin Carden, did not have to make a single one. However, that would change in the second period.
In the 65th minute, the Eagles' Amy Caldwell dribbled through three players and netted a shot in the far post past Carden. Six minutes later, Brooke Knowlton tipped in a shot assisted by Gina Dimartino of BC.
The Eagles accumulated 11 shots in the final period, compared to just two for the Hokies, and that was the difference. Each team committed six fouls in the contest.
The Hokies second-to-last match of the season will be against Wake Forest this Thursday at 7 p.m. on Thompson Field.
-- by Garrett Busic
YOUTH SHINES FOR MEN'S TENNIS
The Tech men's tennis team played its final tournament of the fall pre-season this past weekend. The Hokies competed well and pulled out some major victories in Sunday's matches.
This weekend's big story however was a freshman from Italy, Corrado Degli Incerti Tocci.
He advanced to Sunday with ease and would go on to defeat Victor Vaz (Jacksonville) 6-2, 6-0 in two straight sets on Sunday -- winning the Steadman Shealy division of the Crimson Tide Invitational.
Another notable story in this weekend's festivities is that of freshman twins, Jonathan and Zach Pine. The brothers both advanced to play in Sunday's matches.
Zach Pine eventually lost his consolation semi-match of the Ken Stabler Division, 6-3, 6-2, to Chris Duke (Jacksonville). However, Jonathan Pine easily defeated Maxime Zamore (Troy), 6-1, 6-3, to win his consolation match.
The only other Hokies to play on Sunday were in doubles matches.
The team of Zach Pine/Preston Lemon lost 8-4 to the team of Andrew Felsenthal/John Lewis, who was the hosting pair from Alabama. Tech junior Yoann Re and Tocci eventually dropped their doubles semifinal, 8-5, to the No. 5-seeded pair in the tournament, Thomas Estrada/Lucas Jovista (South Florida).
The Hokies look to keep up the good work when their spring season starts next semester.
The team returns to action Jan. 23when it travels to the Auburn Invitational in Alabama.
-- by Alex Siegel
WOMEN'S TENNIS STRONG IN PHILLY
In their most recent contest, several members of the Tech women's tennis team traveled to the University of Pennsylvania to compete in the Eastern Region Championships. Senior Jessica Brouwer advanced as both a singles and doubles player alongside her partner Holly Johnson. Freshman Martha Blakely also advanced in the singles bracket of the event.
The tournament consists of players from 60 colleges in the region competing for a berth in the ITA National Indoor Championships.
Both the doubles champion and the two singles finalists will qualify to compete in next month's championship in Charlottesville.
Both Blakely and Brouwer eased past their opponents by scores of 6-2, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-1, respectively. Of the other singles players, sophomore Yasmin Hamza, ranked number No. 110 nationally and seeded No. 17, and senior Inga Beermann, seeded No. 11, received opening round byes.
In doubles, the team of Brouwer and Johnson won both opening round matches by scores of 8-4, while Beermann and Blakely were defeated 8-5 after winning their opening round match, 8-4.
After a disappointing 2007-08 performance, the Hokies are looking to gain some momentum for the upcoming regular season.
-- by Thomas Emerick
DIVING SINKS N.C. STATE, WVU
Tech set three War Memorial Pool records on Saturday as its men's and women's teams defeated both North Carolina State and West Virginia University. The men toppled NC State, 183-126, and West Virginia, 200-109, while the women notched scores of 202-107 and 199-93 against the former and latter, respectively.
The women's team, composed of seniors Jordan McHorney, Megan Newell, Sara Smith and junior Jessica Earl, broke the pool record in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:42.1.
Smith would later break her own 200 IM pool record with a time of 2:03.91. The men's team broke the 200-medley pool record with a team of junior Jonathan Huss, senior Ian deToll and sophomore Stephan Hawkins.
Following this successful weekend, the H2Okies head to Charlottesville to face the Virginia Cavaliers in two contests. The No. 23-ranked Tech women's squad will face its No. 10 Cavalier counterpart. The Virginia men's squad is currently ranked 15th in the country, and will present a tough challenge on Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.
-- by Justin Long
GOLF EIGHTH AT LANDFALL
Hoping to defend its title from last year, the Tech golf team returned to the Landfall Tradition at the par-72, 7,130-yard Country Club at Landfall's Nicklaus Course in Wilmington, N.C., this past weekend.
Tech was the only ACC team in the tournament, shooting a first-round score of 313 and tying host UNCW for eighth on Friday.
Iowa had gained the lead after the first day of play as the only team to shoot under par at 286.
Saturday was much brighter for the Hokies as sophomore Garland Green shot a one-under-par 71 and moved into a tie for the lead.
With help from senior Drew Weaver, sophomores Marshall Bailey and Aaron Eckstein and freshman Blake Redmond, the Hokies were able to move up two spots to sixth after shooting a second round 308, giving them a total of 621.
After day two the Hokies were trailing leader Iowa by 23 strokes.
On Sunday, the team continued to move up the leader board shooting a team tournament low, 293, bringing the total to 914 -- six strokes behind third place VCU.
After shooting three-over-par 75 in the last round, Green was able to pull out an individual best fifth-place finish with a tournament total of five-over-par 221.
It was Weaver who took a hold of the reins and shot one-under-par 71 on Sunday, bringing his individual total to 225 and in a tie for 12th.
This was the team's last event of the fall season. The spring season starts on Feb. 27 at the Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan.
-- by Lindsay Faulkner