Kayl Petersen was part of Megan Duffy's first recruiting class at Virginia Tech. (Ivan Morozov)

Virginia Tech women's basketball forward forward Kayl Petersen announced her plans to enter the transfer portal on Thursday morning.

Petersen is the first portal departure of the offseason for the Hokies, who finished 23-10 (12-6 ACC) and reached the NCAA Tournament. She will have two years of eligibility remaining.

The Waupun, Wis., native was part of Megan Duffy's first recruiting class in 2024. Previously a Marquette signee, she and Leila Wells followed Duffy to Blacksburg. She averaged 3.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game across 64 games in two seasons.

Petersen backed up Rose Micheaux as a true freshman and averaged 4.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 15.8 minutes per game while shooting 44.9 percent (53-for-118) from the field. She made 11 of her 43 3-pointers (25.6%) and blocked 31 shots. She only had four double-figure performances, but one of them was a crucial 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting — including a 2-for-3 mark from deep — in the upset of Louisville.

However, her role slightly decreased as a sophomore. She played just 10.7 minutes per game, averaged 2.2 points per game, shot 35.7 percent (25-for-70) overall and was 3-for-19 (15.8%) from the outside.

Petersen appeared to hit the ground running in the season opener with 17-point, 11-rebound double-double that paced the Hokies in their 100-56 win over Towson — in part because Kilah Freelon dealt with foul trouble. Outside of posting 10 points and nine rebounds in the second game against Loyola (Md.), though, she never recaptured that kind of output.

Those were her lone double-figure outings on the year, and she only recorded five-plus rebounds three other times. Part of that was because Tech often turned to true freshman forward Aniya Trent (6-3), who was the first big off the bench and ate into some of Petersen's minutes.

Trent played double-digit minutes in three of the final five games of the year; Petersen did so just twice, including in the NCAA Tournament against Oregon, where she knocked down a three and grabbed three rebounds.

Her departure leaves the Hokies with 12 current scholarship players for the 2026-27 season.

For more information on the comings and goings of Virginia Tech men's and women's basketball this offseason, click here for Tech Sideline's roster management page.