Tolbert to Finland
Virginia Tech volleyball’s Jaila Tolbert has signed her first professional contract, dotting the line with Nurmon Jymy in Finland, as announced by her agency Athletes Abroad.
Tolbert joins an elite list of former Hokies who have played professionally overseas, most recently Amanda McKinzie and Kennedy Bryan, among others.
The Minnesota native will play in a league called the Finnish Mestaruusliga, which is considered the top league in Finland.
Tolbert is coming off an All-ACC season, earning second-team league honors after posting 348 kills and 79 blocks. The right-side hitter and middle blocker also earned second-team All-ACC her junior season in 2017, while making the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2015.
She will move to Finland later this summer and begin training in August.
Haught on Hokie staff
Virginia Tech head wrestling Coach Tony Robie announced Tuesday that Hokie great Jared Haught has been added to his staff as the volunteer assistant coach.
With the addition of Haught, Ty Walz has been promoted from volunteer assistant to director of performance-wrestling.
Haught was a two-time ACC champion, four-time NCAA qualifier and a three-time All-American for the Hokies from 2014-18. As a senior, Haught became only the second Tech wrestler and the first West Virginia native to make it to a national final when he reached the championship match at 197 pounds at the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. Haught and his wife, Morgan, reside in Blacksburg.
CHS volleyball camp
The Christiansburg High School, in cooperation with the Christiansburg Recreation Department, is hosting its summer volleyball camp July 8-11 from 5-7 p.m. The camp is instructed by Lisa Dalton and the staff of the CHS volleyball program and will be held at the recreation center. The price is $30. Please pre-register by July 5. Call 382-2349 for more information.
Hokie golfers all-academic
Virginia Tech men’s golfers Connor Burgess and Connor Johnson Jr., have been named to the 2019 All-ACC Academic Men’s Golf Team. This is both Burgess and Johnson’s first year on the team.
Burgess is a sophomore management major from Lynchburg, Virginia. He led the Hokies in scoring average this season at 71.88 and had six top 20 finishes, including three in the top 10. He also led the team in rounds of par-or-better, while starting all 11 events. His best finish of the season was seventh at the Schenkel Invitational and finished ninth in the 2019 ACC Men’s Golf Championship.
Johnson is a freshman business major from Richmond, Virginia. He was third on the team in stroke average at 73.33 and led the team in Crunch Time average at 72.10
ACC-Big Ten challenge
The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team will face the Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday, Dec. 5 at Cassell Coliseum in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the ACC office announced Tuesday morning. Tech will be seeking its fifth consecutive win in the competition, building on the successes of the past four seasons with victories over Rutgers, Illinois, Nebraska and Penn State.
The Hokies and Boilermakers have met once previously, in the 2003 NCAA tournament. Purdue won that contest in West Lafayette, Indiana 80-62.
Purdue went 19-15 last season which included an 8-10 mark in Big Ten play. After being eliminated in the Big Ten Championship, the team did not participate in a postseason competition. The squad is led by Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer Sharon Versyp in her 14th season as head coach at her alma mater.