Virginia Tech Invitational
Tournament Info – Friday, Sept. 2 & Saturday, Sept. 3
Location – Cassell Coliseum (Blacksburg, Va.)
Stream – ODU at Virginia Tech (Sept. 3, 3 p.m. on ACCNX)
Live Stats – CLICK HERE
Full Schedule
Friday, Sept. 2
10 a.m. – Marist vs. Old Dominion
12 p.m. – Virginia Tech vs. Coppin State
5 p.m. – Old Dominion vs. Coppin State
7 p.m. – Virginia Tech vs. Marist
Saturday, Sept. 3
1 p.m. – Coppin State vs. Marist
3 p.m. – Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion
*Times are in Eastern Standard
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion volleyball team returns to the court this Friday and Saturday as the Monarchs head to Blacksburg, Virginia to play in the Virginia Tech Invitational. The Hokies are hosting the two-day tournament in Cassell Coliseum.
ODU has two matches on Friday as the team faces Marist at 10 a.m. before a 5 p.m. meeting with Coppin State that evening. The Monarchs then conclude the trip against the tournament hosts on Saturday at 3 p.m. This weekend marks the first time ODU has played any of the other three programs.
Live stats will be available for all three matches, and Saturday's match against Virginia Tech will be streamed on ACCNX, which is available through the ESPN app.
About ODU
The Monarchs (0-3) opened their season at the Northern Arizona Invitational last weekend, falling in straight sets to Michigan and Utah Tech on Aug. 26 and to Northern Arizona on Aug. 27.
Myah Conway led ODU in scoring on the first day, tallying 11 kills versus the Wolverines and eight in the loss to the Trailblazers. Gerren Tomlin then paced the attack on Day Two with a team-best eight kills. Teresa Atilano opened the tournament with a 21-assist effort against Michigan, followed by 12 more in the match with Utah Tech. She rounded out the weekend with a 29-assist, 12-dig double-double on Saturday.
On defense, Anna Burkhardt reached double-digit digs in two of the three matches to lead the back line. At the net, Hailey Duncan and Conway combined for five blocks in the loss to Michigan. Bailey Burgess made four blocks and Atilano added three in Friday's tilt with Utah Tech, while Burgess and Duncan combined for five on Saturday against the Lumberjacks.
Through matches played on Aug. 28, the Monarchs rank 77th in the country in team attacks per set with 35.78. Additionally, Atilano ranks 37th nationally with 0.75 aces per set.
About Marist
The Red Foxes (2-1) opened their 2022 campaign at the Georgia State Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia. Marist collected a pair of wins last Friday, defeating the host Panthers 3-0 before topping Belmont 3-1. The team then fell in four sets to Auburn on Saturday.
Marist was picked to finish fourth with 69 points in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Preseason Poll, with Jordan Newblatt and McKinley Fox named to the preseason all-conference team. Sasha van der Merwe and Newblatt lead the Red Foxes with 38 and 34 kills, respectively. Fox is the primary setter with 98 assists and van der Merwe has served a team-high six aces. Morgan Owens is up to 36 digs (3.27 per set), while Vanessa Zolg and Alyssa White have registered seven blocks each.
About Coppin State
The Eagles (2-2) won two of three matches at the Aggie-Spartan Invitational last weekend. Coppin State opened the tournament with a 3-2 victory at North Carolina A&T on Friday. After a five-set loss at UNC Greensboro to start its Saturday, the team got back in the win column with a 3-1 win over Bethune-Cookman later that afternoon. Miajavon Coleman was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting double-doubles in all three matches. She added MEAC player of the Week honors while teammate Andrea Tsvetanova was named Setter of the Week.
CSU is coming off a 3-1 loss at Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday. Coleman notched her fourth-straight double-double in the loss with 14 kills and 15 digs. Hope Casel finished with a career-high 16 kills and Tsvetanova turned in her third double-double-double of the season with 40 assists and 14 digs. Geraldyn Palacios recorded 10 blocks as the Eagles out-blocked the Greyhounds, 13-7. It marked the most blocks by a CSU player since 2014.
Coleman was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Player of the Year as the Eagles were picked to finish third in the league's Preseason Poll. Coleman was joined on the Preseason All-MEAC Team by Paola Caten, Ashley Roman and Ammaarah Williams.
About Virginia Tech
The Hokies (1-2) were in Wilmington, North Carolina last weekend for UNCW's Seahawk Classic. The team earned a 3-1 win over the tournament hosts on Friday, but fell 3-0 to Coastal Carolina and 3-1 to Davidson on Saturday.
Virginia Tech received 48 points and was picked to finish 12th in the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) Preseason Poll. Cera Powell leads the team in points (31.5) and kills (30) while setter Hanna Borer owns 69 assists. Powell and Maddie Slagle have both served four aces each. Slagle has a team-best 43 digs and Anabel Zier has recorded 10 blocks to lead the defensive effort.
Up Next
Following this weekend, the Monarchs return home to host their Quest for the Crown tournament next Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 8-10 at the ODU Volleyball Center. The Monarchs open the tournament with a 6:30 p.m. match against Navy on Thursday night. ODU will then play Notre Dame at 7 p.m. on Friday before closing out the weekend on Saturday in a 3 p.m. meeting with East Carolina. Live stats will be available throughout the tournament and all three of ODU's matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
Fans can purchase 2022-23 Old Dominion voucher books online at ynottix.com. For the cost of $50, you get 25 tickets that can be used for any regular season home game at the ODU Volleyball Center, ODU Soccer Complex or Bud Metheny Baseball Stadium.
Single-game tickets can also be purchased for $5 at the entrance to the ODU Volleyball Center.
Click here to purchase the 2022-23 ODU voucher book.
Monarchs Head to Blacksburg for Virginia Tech Invitational
