Scores: VCU 3, Virginia 2 (25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 24-26, 19-17)
Tournament: VCU Invitational
Location: Richmond, Va. (Stuart C. Siegel Center)
Records: VCU 5-7, Virginia 7-5
Attendance: 1,096

• Senior Janelle Sykes blasted eight kills in the fifth-set tiebreaker and finished with a career-high 20 to push VCU past Virginia in a 3-2, a edge-of-the-seat thriller Saturday night before 1,096 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.
• Sykes did not record a hitting error on 12 attempts in the decisive fifth set and spiked VCU's last three kills in the frame, including the match's final two.
• With the win, VCU completed a 3-0 sweep of its home tournament. The Rams defeated Ball State in another five-set marathon earlier Saturday and East Tennessee State on Friday.
• VCU led the match 2-0, but Virginia battled back with consecutive 26-24 wins in the third and fourth sets. The fifth set featured 10 ties and a pair of lead changes.
• Senior setter Cecilia Aragao polished off an outstanding weekend with 50 assists, six blocks, six digs and five kills.  
• Junior Kalah Jones also provided 18 kills and three blocks for the Rams, who outblocked Virginia 19.5 to 12.0.
• The Rams' back row was busy in the see-saw affair, and the trio of Mary Kilbane (19), Sami Blaze (15) and Rebekah Strange (13) combined for 37 digs.
• Virginia's Tori Janowski led all players with 24 kills and 19 digs.

• Virginia repelled four match points – one in the third set and three in the fifth - before the Rams finally earned the hard-fought victory. After Janowski tied the fifth set at 17-17 with her 24^th kill, the Rams finally put the Cavaliers away when Aragao found Sykes for kills on back-to-back plays.
• VCU hit .480 in the fifth set and did not record a hitting error.
• The Rams nearly swept Virginia out of town. Up 2-0, VCU led the third 24-23, only to watch Janowski, a left-handed outside hitter, spike a pair of kills in a 3-0 burst that wrestled away the win from VCU's grasp, albeit temporarily.

• Saturday's announced attendance of 1,096 is the largest home crowd for the Rams since 1,341 witnessed VCU and Hofstra at the Siegel Center on Oct. 23, 2009.
• The win is VCU's second over Virginia in the last three years. The Rams also topped the Cavaliers 3-2 on Sept. 7, 2012 on this same floor.
• Sykes enjoyed the best weekend of her VCU career. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker averaged 3.54 kills, 1.23 blocks and hit .398 in three matches.
• Jones averaged 3.69 kills per set to earn her All-Tournament nod, while Aragao dished out 10.77 assists per set in three contests.