Tournament: Quest for the Crown
Location: Norfolk, Va. (ODU Volleyball Center)
Records: VCU 0-1, ODU 1-0
 
The short story: Senior outside hitter Ana Brangioni supplied 16.0 points in a well-rounded performance, but it wasn't enough for VCU to hold off Old Dominion Friday night in Norfolk, Va.
 
OPENING VOLLEY

• Brangioni provided 13 kills, nine digs, two blocks and two aces for the Black and Gold. She hit .265 in 34 swings
• Senior middle blocker Jasmine Knight hit .500 with eight kills for the Rams, while junior outside hitter Kialah Jefferson added 11 kills and 14 digs
• Bryanna Jones paced the Lady Monarchs with 14 kills, while hitting .344 on the evening

THE DIFFERENCE

• The match turned in ODU's favor in the third, when the Rams hit .000 in a 25-18 loss. The Lady Monarchs raced out to a 21-14 lead in that frame and never looked back
• The Rams nearly forced the fifth-set tiebreaker with a frantic rally in the fourth. VCU trailed 20-13, but Brangioni caught fire to ignite an 11-4 burst for the Rams. She kicked off the run with back-to-back aces, then tied the set at 24-24 a short time later with consecutive right-handed kills. But ODU's Alice Munari responded with a pair of strikes on back-to-back plays to clinch the contest
• VCU hit .252 in the match, compared to ODU's .227, but the Rams were hurt by 16 service errors

NOTABLE

• Friday's match was Tim Doyle's first as head coach for the VCU program. Doyle, one of the architects of the Rams' three straight Atlantic 10 Conference regular season crowns from 2017-19 as an assistant, returned to VCU this winter following five seasons as head coach at William & Mary
• Graduate transfers AnnaBelle Tomei and Akire Jones impressed in their VCU debuts. Tomei, a setter, dished out 24 assists and served four aces. Jones hit .444 with five kills and three blocks from the middle

NEXT UP
VCU will face Norfolk State at noon Saturday in the final day of ODU's Quest for the Crown tournament.