LYNCHBURG, Va. – Elon University volleyball fell 3-1 to Virginia Tech on Friday night, Sept. 6 in what was the opening match of the Liberty Invitational.
 
"We found our rhythm in the middle of the match and played really well," said head coach Mary Tendler. "Our defense made some great plays in which we were able to to get a lot of transition swings. We struggled against Virginia Tech's block. We will have to do a better job of mixing up our shots tomorrow against two very good teams."
 
The Phoenix drops to 1-3 with the loss.
 
Virginia Tech 3, Elon 1  | 19-25, 18-25, 25-21, 19-25
THE RUNDOWN
The first set of the match featured 10 ties. After a Leah Daniel kill knotted the score at 17-17, the Hokies (2-2) pulled away with a 6-1 swing and grabbed the first match point with a 25-19 tally. Set two opened with four straight points by Tech, but a pair of Kellyn Trowse scores and a Kodi Garcia ace allowed the maroon and gold to pull even. With the set even at 10-10, the visitors on the scoreboard slowly pulled away down the stretch, going up 2-0 with a 25-18 decision.

In Set Three, a pair of early block assists by Natalie Cummins and Jenn Krzeminski helped Elon take an early 5-2 lead. Tech hung around as the teams traded points, but another 5-0 push gave the Phoenix a 19-14 edge. The Hokies were able to close the gap, but back-to-back kills by Daniel secured the match point for Elon.

Another ace from Garcia and a pair of kills from Cummins saw the Phoenix take a 3-0 lead at the start of Set Four. Unfortunately, six unanswered Tech points proved to be too much to overcome as the Hokies jumped ahead, 15-9. Another kill from Cummins got Elon to within 17-14, but that was the closest the Phoenix would get as the Hokies picked up the win with another 25-19 set score.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Daniel paced Elon's attack with 18 kills, followed by Trowse with 14 and Cummins with 11. Trowse also added 13 digs and Cummins registered four blocks. Garcia and Haylie Clark contributed 25 and 20 assists, respectively. Seman came up one dig shy of her career high with 24, while Jordan Gower set a new best with 14 digs. Garcia served a pair of aces, and Clark also reached double-digit digs with 13.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix has an early start to Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. tilt against the host Lady Flames. Elon then closes out the tournament at 4 p.m. in a meeting with former SoCon rival Davidson.