Virginia Tech offense overpowers SU in straight sets
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Both Virginia Tech and Syracuse entered Friday night’s encounter winless at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Yet, the Hokies proved that there remains a gap between the Orange and the rest of the conference. The Hokies’ (11-5, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) offense killed 37 points with a .284 hitting percentage en route to a straight-set victory over SU (2-13, 0-5 ACC).
“(Virginia Tech’s) execution was just really good,” SU freshman Veronica Sierzant said. “They had a really good setter-hitter connection.”
Virginia Tech sophomore setter Hanna Borer registered 31 points and 13 digs to lead the Hokies’ setter-hitter connection. Borer displayed the skills that have helped her rank second in the ACC in assists per set, setting with deception and confidence.
“I think she ran their offense really well,” Sierzant said of Borer. “She put them in positions that helped them score.”
After the Orange went on a six-point run to tie the third set at 16-16, VT head coach Marci Byers called timeout. The Hokies immediately won five points in a row, and nine of the final 11, to win the set and the match.
“They did a really good job executing,” SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “Being very aggressive on offense, and making really good plays on defense.”
On the defensive side, Iliana Rodriguez and Borer had 14 and 13 digs, respectively. While VT blocked 12 attempts as a team. Offensively, Hailey Pearce had 10 kills on a .333 hitting percentage, as Leand Mangual-Duran also had 10 kills but on a .429 hitting percentage. All of this was facilitated by Borer, who threw off Syracuse’s block.
“Her mindset was like, ‘I need to put (my hitters) in a position to score,’” Sierzant said.
Virginia Tech went on multiple runs to keep Syracuse at arm’s length throughout the match. It spaced the floor well, allowing Borer to have plenty of options to set. The Hokies’ hitters took advantage.
In the first set, Virginia Tech scored four points in a row to take a 13-9 lead, with Borer assisting on all four of them. Later in the set, Borer had another four assists over a six-point span in which the Hokies went from up by two to eight. VT hit at a .400 clip with 15 kills in the first set. But, the second set was a defensive masterclass.
“We felt like Virginia Tech had some weaknesses on defense that we wanted to exploit,” Ganesharatnam said. “I think the execution was not to our expectation.”
The Hokies opened the set on a three-point run, then went on another to extend their lead to seven. The breaking point for Syracuse was a six-point run, featuring two kills and a block each from Pearce and Cara Lewis, putting Virginia Tech ahead 20-7. The Hokies finished with 19 digs in the set, and made only three errors.
In the third set, SU held Virginia Tech to a .167 hitting percentage. The Orange blocked multiple attempts and forced numerous errors. But it was too little, too late.
“I think lining up the block needed to be better,” Ganesharatnam said. “It took us too long to get the timing right.”
