Miami coach Katie Meier explains why she hopes Elizabeth Kitley plays on Friday

For the last four days, there has been no update from Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks in regards to the status of his three-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley. She went down with a knee injury in the third quarter of Sunday night's loss at Virginia.

Thursday, the Hokies took the floor at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina for practice ahead of their quarterfinal round game against as the top-seed in the ACC Tournament. Kitley was not on the floor for practice and Minnesota transfer Rose Micheaux took reps with the starters in practice. She was, however, in the stands with her teammates who watched the second game of the day between Miami and North Carolina with Virginia Tech.

Miami, which trailed by double digits in the first half, rallied in the second half to stun the Tar Heels, 60-59, to move on to face the Hokies Friday at 1:30. Again, Kitley status remains up in the air, but Hurricanes coach Katie Meier hopes that she is able to play in the game.

"I hope (Kitley) is available,'' Meier said. "You never see a post player with that kind of time per touch, but she thinks and moves the ball quicker than your scheme. That's why she's the class of the post player in America right now."

Now let's make no mistake about it, Meier and her staff will spend Thursday night preparing for Kitley to play and for her not to play. That's what good coaches do and Meier is one of the better ones in the ACC. Only Kitley, Brooks, and the Hokies know whether or not their star plays and you can count on them to have a game plan ready. Meier is hoping what what the good coaches like to do, play against the best players possible whenever they can.

In the two teams only meeting this season in Blacksburg on Jan. 11, Virginia Tech rolled to a 76-52 victory with Kitley scoring 31 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Things could look a lot different on Friday afternoon.