By Megan Wilson for MSNsportsNEt.com
November 8, 2002

MORGANTOWN, W.Va - The West Virginia University volleyball team (9-17, 3-8) lost a tough match on Friday night against BIG EAST opponent Virginia Tech (18-9, 8-2) by a score of 3-1 (27-30, 30-24, 33-31, 25-30).

In the first game, the Mountaineers struck first with a kill by Julie Hockenson. At one point, WVU came back from a six-point deficit to tie the game at 23, but the Hokies held on to win by three points.

Game two was taken by WVU 30-24. Aces from Stephanie Zolna and Brandice Studnicka paced WVU. Alison Zemanski and Zolna each tallied seven kills.

The third and fourth games were won by Virginia Tech. Leading the Hokies was Ana Lang with 17 kills, 21 digs, and 18 points scored. Melissa Markowski tallied 47 assists in the match.

Zolna had a total of 16 kills and 21 digs. This was her eleventh double-double match of the season. She also had two aces and put up 18 points.

Hockenson had 16 kills and a match-high hitting percentage of .467. Dimitra Havriluk had 11 kills and 23 digs for the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers return to action on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. where they will face off against the Miami Hurricanes. The match will take place in the WVU Coliseum.