Hokie softball earns ranking
After a 3-2 showing against five top-25 opponents at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational Feb. 13-16, Virginia Tech appeared in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Poll.
Tech (9-3) entered the rankings at No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Poll. The Hokies received votes in both polls the past two weeks.
VT center Kitley ACC rookie of week
Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley was named the ACC Freshman of the Week last week.
Kitley helped the Hokies claim two victories by scoring 35 total points and grabbing 18 rebounds. In an overtime victory over Georgia Tech on Feb. 13, she scored 14 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Then on Sunday, Feb. 16, she led the Hokies with 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the floor as Tech earned its third consecutive league win by beating Wake Forest. It was the team’s ninth win. By pulling down 14 rebounds, Kitley registered her fourth double-double of the season.
Tech tennis downs RU
The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team defended their home court by defeating New River Valley foe Radford, 5-2, Monday, Feb. 17.
The Hokies put on an impressive performance in the doubles portion of the match. Juniors Nika Kozar and Elizabet Danailova swiftly handled their Radford opposition on court two, 6-1. Freshman Erika Cheng and junior Nina Sorkin wrapped up the point for Tech on court three, downing their opponents 6-3.
Senior Natalie Novotna asserted herself on court one, giving up only one game in a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Anastasia Belyaeva. Kozar found herself in the win column for the third consecutive match in the afternoon when she downed Drousile Dzeubou, 6-4, 6-1.
Smith wins campus award
Virginia Tech graduate student Tyrell Smith was honored at the fifth annual Uplifting Black Men Conference on Saturday, receiving the Black Male Excellent Network’s (BMEN) leadership award. This award recognizes a community member who has demonstrated exceptional leadership through their involvement and impact on the lives of black male students at Virginia Tech.
Five years ago, the Student Success Center made a commitment to help meet the needs of black male students by developing a conference for networking, professional development and community engagement.
An offensive lineman, Smith (6-3, 308) was voted a team captain by his teammates last season, but suffered a season-ending knee injury against Duke and has been rehabbing to get back on the field for one more season.
Hokies ranked 25th in football preseason
ESPN Stats & Info posted its initial Football Power Index (FPI) for the 2020 preseason with the Hokies coming in at No. 25. Tech was one of four schools (Tennessee, Nebraska & Florida State) to jump into the preseason Top 25 after ranking outside the final 2019 Top 30. The Hokies moved up 23 spots from their final 2019 ranking.
RU softball’s Mundy on award watch list
Radford University senior Hunter Mundy has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2020 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Across her career through last week’s games, Mundy has collected 137 hits. Thirty of them have been home runs, 26 have been doubles. She tallied a career-high 13 home runs last season, which ranked third in the Big South. This season she’s off to a hot start with a .417 batting average in the early going.
RU’s Hudson baseball relief pitcher of week
After recording saves in each of his first two appearances of the 2020 season, Radford University redshirt sophomore pitcher Bruce Hudson was named the Big South Conference Relief Pitcher of the Week last week.
Hudson threw a combined three scoreless innings in two games against N.C. Central, allowing just one hit while striking out a pair to earn his first two saves of the season. The Washington, D.C., native retired each of the last eight hitters he faced, including all five batters he saw in Sunday’s series finale.
Hudson allowed a single to the first batter he faced during the weekend but recovered to retire the next three batters on for his first save of the season. In his second appearance, he entered with a runner on first and proceeded to force a double-play, before retiring the next four batters in order for his second save in as many days.
