BLACKSBURG, Va. - UNC Greensboro fell to Virginia Tech before recording a comeback win against Montana on Saturday afternoon as the Spartans wrapped up competition at the Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational. The Spartans fell to the Hokies, 3-1, earlier in the day before coming back from a 2-1 game deficit to defeat the Grizzlies, 3-2. Catherine Hanners was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts over the weekend.

The Spartans (1-2) took the first game from the Hokies (2-0), but Virginia Tech stormed back to take the final three games to claim the victory. UNCG and Montana (1-2) battled later in the day in a tight match that saw the Spartans hold off match-point to come back and win.

The Spartans fell to the Hokies by the score of 23-25, 25-22, 25-15 and 25-8 before defeating the Grizzlies 22-25, 30-28, 23-25, 26-24 and 15-9. 

"This was a very good tournament; any one of the four could have won it," said head coach Patrick Nicholas. "Our challenge was that with the injuries and flu during the preseason we never had the opportunity to scrimmage with six versus six. However, with each match there was improvement. We really stuck together as a team and competed as a team. We just have to get consistent with everyday and every game with everybody."

Senior Catherine Hanners delivered a career-high 21 kills and a team-high .328 hitting percentage against Montana. Freshman Arielle Lysacek had 53 assists in the match and Kayleigh Knerr chipped in a match-high 24 digs.

UNCG came out hot in the first game against the Grizzlies as it took an early 9-1 lead before Montana took a timeout. The Grizzlies came storming out of the timeout and kept chipping away at the Spartan lead before taking their first lead of the game at 20-19. The Grizzlies went on to win five of the final seven points to take the first game.

The Spartans refused to give up without a fight in the match as they battled back to take a thrilling second game, 30-28. This game it was Montana who hopped out to an early lead after leading 6-1 on a kill by Amy Roberts. UNCG fought back to take a 10-8 lead and both teams traded points the rest of the game without either team having more than a three point lead. The Spartans had two game-points, but Montana was able to hold them off before having a game-point of its own at 28-27. UNCG won the final three points on kills by Olivia Humphries and Hanners before the Grizzlies had an attack error to give the Spartans the game, 30-28.

The third game saw the two squads in another seesaw battle as the two sides traded points. With the Grizzlies leading, 11-9, the Spartans rattled off the next six points to take a four-point lead midway through the game. Montana fought back to tie the game at 19 apiece and later at 22, but UNCG couldn't hold on and dropped three of the last four points to lose the game.

The Spartans had to fend off match-point by the Grizzlies in the fourth game to stay alive. In another tight game, UNCG found itself down 24-23 and facing defeat before a Humphries kill tied the match. A block by Humphries and Caley Redden gave the Spartans game-point and Hanners delivered her fourth ace of the match to clinch the game and knot the team score at 2.

With UNCG holding the momentum heading into the fifth and final game, the Spartans found themselves in another tight game tied at 6. The Spartans won the next four points en route to taking nine of the final 12 points to give themselves their first win of the season.

Emily Lindborg paced the Spartans offensively against Virginia Tech as she had a team-high 11 kills and Alissa Beaudway added 10 kills and a team-high .269 hitting percentage. Lysacek continued her strong play at the tournament by recording 35 assists and 19 digs from her setter position.

Taylor Parrish led the Hokies on the offensive end with 16 kills and Erin Leaser added 40 assists in the match. Jill Gergen had a team-high 20 digs and Felicia Willoughby had nine blocks for the home squad.

In the first game against Virginia Tech, the two teams traded points and were knotted at six early on until the Spartans won six of the next seven points to jump out to a 12-7 lead. UNCG maintained their lead throughout the entire set and eventually went ahead 24-20, but the Hokies fought off game-point three times before the Spartans claimed the game, 25-23, on a kill by Lindborg.

Virginia Tech held a slight lead for most of the second game, although neither team was able to extend their lead by more than three points. The Spartans were able to knot the score at 19 later in the game on a kill by Humphries and again at 22 on a kill by Beaudway, but the Hokies won the final three points in the game to knot to win the game, 25-22, and tie the team score at 1.

The two teams started the third game quite similar to the first two games as the teams found themselves tied at six. The Hokies went on to claim eight of the next 10 points to jump ahead, 14-8, and the Spartans were never able to recover as they dropped the game, 25-15.

The Hokies continued on the offensive in the fourth and final game as they took the early 9-2 lead and never looked back as they sealed the match by the score of 25-8.

UNCG returns to the court on Tuesday as the Spartans make the short trip to face Winston-Salem State at 7 p.m.

AGATE

Virginia Tech def. UNC Greensboro: 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-8

UNC Greensboro (0-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Emily Lindborg 11-0-1; Alissa Beaudway 10-0-0; Olivia Humphries 9-0-2; Billi Baker 5-2-1; Luciana Shafer 5-0-3; Caley Redden 2-0-0; Arielle Lysacek 1-0-1; Kayleigh Knerr 0-1-0; Catherine Hanners 0-1-0; Totals 43-4-5.0. (Assists) - Arielle Lysacek 35. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 22; Arielle Lysacek 19; Billi Baker 14; Kayleigh Knerr 11; Luciana Shafer 8

Virginia Tech (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Taylor Parrish 16-0-3; Jennifer Wiker 8-0-6; Cara Baarendse 7-1-6; Felicia Willoughby 6-0-9; Erin Leaser 4-0-2; Morgan O'Neill 3-0-0; Justine Record 3-1-0; Amy Wengrenovich 3-0-0; Betsy Horowitz 2-0-6; Kirsty Blue 1-0-3; Jill Gergen 0-1-0; Totals 53-3-19.0. (Assists) - Erin Leaser 40. (Dig leaders) - Jill Gergen 20; Amy Wengrenovich 13; Morgan O'Neill 12; Justine Record 9; Cara Baarendse 8

Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)

Date: Aug 29, 2009   Attend: 237   Time: 1:57   

Referees: BJ Willard, Terry Martin

Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational

Game 4

UNC Greensboro def. Montana: 22-25, 30-28, 23-25, 26-24, 15-9

UNC Greensboro (1-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Catherine Hanners 21-4-2; Olivia Humphries 15-2-2; Emily Lindborg 11-0-5; Caley Redden 11-2-2; Billi Baker 6-0-1; Arielle Lysacek 4-2-2; Alissa Beaudway 2-0-1; Kayleigh Knerr 0-1-0; Totals 70-11-9.0. (Assists) - Arielle Lysacek 53. (Dig leaders) - Kayleigh Knerr 24; Arielle Lysacek 18; Catherine Hanners 13; Caley Redden 11; Billi Baker 8

Montana (1-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - ROBERTS, Amy 23-1-1; HOBBS, Whitney 17-2-2; BRANSTITER, Paige 9-0-4; QUICK, Brittany 8-0-6; TURNER, Stephanie 6-0-1; OLGARD, Emma 3-0-3; WRIGHT, Taryn 2-1-1; Totals 68-4-10.0. (Assists) - WRIGHT, Taryn 58. (Dig leaders) - BROWN, Brittney 19; ROBERTS, Amy 19; HOBBS, Whitney 18; WRIGHT, Taryn 12; TURNER, Stephanie 9

Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)

Date: Aug 29, 2009   Attend:     Time: 2:24   

Referees: Daniel Leake, BJ Willard

Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational

Game 5

2009 Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational All-Tournament Team

Taylor Parrish, VT (MVP)
Cara Baarendse, VT
Felicia Willoughby, VT
Stephanie Turner, Montana
Brittney Brown, Montana
Kallie Corbin, Liberty
Catherine Hanners, UNCG

- UNCG -