Virginia Tech standout Elizabeth Kitley to miss NCAA women's tournament with knee injury

Virginia Tech star center Elizabeth Kitley will not play in the NCAA women's tournament, she confirmed in an Instagram post on Thursday.

The unfortunate news is nevertheless not a huge surprise. Kitley, a three-time ACC player of the year, has been sidelined since being injured in the Hokies’ regular-season finale at Virginia. Even so, team officials were holding out hope she might be able to return after missing the ACC tournament, but this announcement brings clarity that her season is over.

Kitley wrote on her social meeting the following: "On March 3rd I suffered a knee injury that is keeping me out of this years NCAA tournament💔 This is not at all how I anticipated ending this year with my team, but I’m so proud of all of our accomplishments, and I’m excited to see my girls continue to compete. Thank you to all of Hokie Nation for being so supportive during this tough time. I’m looking forward to making a strong comeback."

Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks confirmed that Kitley had suffered a torn ACL.

"Obviously emotionally it's probably been one of the most trying couple weeks of my life, for the kids as well, just because of what she means to us," Brooks said. "So, we had to try to revamp it and reinvent ourselves heading into the ACC tournament."

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Brooks also discussed how Kitley was handling the injury.

"She's been emotional. I've been emotional. I think we probably text each other probably 30 times a day," he said. "She will be good and then she will be sad. The kid has put everything into this and she's the reason we are here. She's the reason we are here."

Kitley, a 6-6 grad student from Summerfield, North Carolina, led Virginia Tech to the program’s first Final Four last season. She was again having an All-America campaign in 2023-24 averaging 22.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks before her injury.

The Hokies open NCAA tournament play Friday as a No. 4 regional seed against No. 13 Marshall.