Opening its season Saturday, Davidson played at ACC Virginia Tech and hung close in the first half before Tech pulled away with a 17-10 decision in women's lacrosse at the Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility. Despite falling behind 5-0 to open the game, the Wildcats were within four, 7-3, after back-to-back goals from Gianna New and Erin Cooke with 3:19 to go in the first half. The Hokies though outscored the 'Cats (0-1) 8-2 in the first 16 minutes of the second half to go up 16-5 on its way to securing the seven-goal win. Sam Rippley led the way with a hat trick, while Shannon Blee and Gianna New scored twice each. The trio helped the Wildcats score four straight goals in the final seven minutes, turning a 17-6 deficit into a seven-goal final. Blee picked up her two goals during the spurt. Olivia Carey dished out three assists, two in the final seven minutes, and Grace Fahey, in her first collegiate game, scored a goal and dished out an assist. Erin Cooke and Anna West also registered their first collegiate goals. Virginia Tech (1-0) was paced by Paige Petty's five goals. Kayla Frank tallied eight points on three goals and five assists, while Julia Bolte had two goals and two assists for four points. Emma Crooks registered a hat trick. Frank scored the first three goals of the game and Petty helped the Hokies pull away by scoring two straight to start the second half. Davidson held a 30-28 edge in shots, while Tech had advantages in groundballs (25-20) and draw controls (16-13). New (6) and Rippley (5) combined for 11 draw controls, with Rippley adding three caused turnovers and two groundballs. Blee had a team-high four groundballs. In goal, Delaney Guhman finished with four saves and three groundballs. Katy Morris came in late in the second half and earned a groundball to go with two saves. Davidson continues its five-game road swing to start the year by taking on No. 1 North Carolina next Sunday, Feb. 16, at 2 p.m.