Elizabeth Kitley's Injury: A Cause for Concern in Charlottesville

As the 2023-2024 regular season came to a close in Charlottesville, nothing else was on the mind of head coach Kenny Brooks except his "kid", All-American graduate student Elizabeth Kitley.

After No. 5 Virginia Tech (23-6, 14-4 ACC) fell short against Virginia (15-14, 7-11 ACC) inside John Paul Jones Arena, Brooks displayed a very somber frame of mind in his postgame press conference.

“I’ll be very honest with you; I don’t know Kitley’s status, and to be honest with you, that’s where my mind is,” said Brooks.

At the 6:05 mark in the third quarter, Kitley went up for a layup on a fast break, and while converting the bucket, she landed awkwardly on her left leg and went to the floor holding her knee from that leg.

She would be walked to the locker room and would make a return to the bench near the middle of the fourth quarter, but would not be entered into play for the rest of the contest.

“She’s more than a player for us,” said Brooks. Obviously, the status of Kitley was the main thing on his mind, as was most likely the rest of Hokie nation.

After the unfortunate incident with Kitley occurred, Georgia Amoore stepped right up and almost single-handedly brought her team to victory as she finished with a career high of 39 points, nailing 13 of her 26 buckets from the field, eight of which were from three.

Chances were available at the end to steal this game back from the Cavaliers, but the Hokies just didn’t get the edge they needed down the stretch. It felt like this game, no matter how many shots Amoore hit, was going to end in defeat for the Hokies.

The defeat alone wouldn’t have mattered to Hokie fans and the team; maybe it would have stung a bit, but for Kitley to go out with her injury and for the severity of it to be unknown, it makes the trip to Charlottesville one that Virginia Tech wishes they could take back.

For the Hokies to come all this way during the regular season, with Kenny Brooks having built this program basically from the ground up for eight years, it could be a very tough pill to swallow that the Hokies potential run in the postseason may have to come without their two-time ACC Player of the Year.

Only time will tell if Kitley will be ready for the ACC Tournament, let alone the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies have a bit of a break as they have a double-bye in Greensboro, with their first game coming on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of UNC vs. Miami on the ACCN.