ATLANTA (Oct. 4) – Entering another important week of conference play, Georgia Tech’s volleyball team (12-4, 2-1 ACC) prepares for three home matches, hosting North Carolina on Tuesday, N.C. State on Friday, and defending ACC Champion Florida State on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets will look to bounce back after falling to 13th-ranked Clemson in four games on Friday night, halting an eight-match winning streak. Georgia Tech also lost starting right-side player Teryl Townsnend (Alexandria, Minn.), who suffered a severe ankle sprain on Friday night and will be out for at least a week.
“I was so disappointed to see Teryl Townsend suffer an injury,” said head coach Shelton Collier. “We were already without our original starting rightside player with Christine Shelby out recovering from an appendectomy, so losing Teryl will be a major blow to our lineup.”
Georgia Tech plans on inserting senior Amanda Medrow (Milwaukee, Wisc.) into the lineup in Townsend’s place. Medrow entered the match Friday night and played well, collecting four kills on eight attempts and is hitting .222 on the season.
The Yellow Jackets will see another change in the line-up as junior setter Courtney Adler (Longwood, Colo.) will start her first ACC match. Adler, a transfer from the University of New Orleans, has seen considerable playing time this season, playing in 31 games and tallying 239 assists on the season.
“Despite suffering from a stress fracture in her foot, Courtney will replace Carolyn Clevenger as our starter this week,” said Collier. “Our team really feeds off of Courtney’s energy and enthusiasm, and we will need this in our important matches this week.”
Tech will begin the week by hosting North Carolina (12-3, 4-0 ACC) on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.. The Tar Heels currently have a 10-match winning streak and are atop the ACC standings with four wins, having defeated Duke and Wake Forest last week. North Carolina holds the series between the two teams 10-18, including a pair of victories over the Jackets in 1998.
On Friday night, the Yellow Jackets will take on N.C. State (10-10, 1-3 ACC) in O’Keefe Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. The Wolfpack defeated Wake Forest last week, their first conference victory in 21 games. The Yellow Jackets hold the advantage in that series, 16-9, and have not lost to the Wolfpack since the 1990 season.
Georgia Tech will conclude their week by facing Florida State (5-9, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in O’Keefe Gymnasium. Although the Yellow Jackets have a strong lead in the series advantage, 12-4, the two teams split their matches last season, with each team winning at home.
Despite the new line-up and challenges ahead this week for the Jackets, Collier remains optimistic entering the week.
“We will work hard to put a combination of players on the floor that can win for us this week,” said Collier. “We want to position ourselves for a good seed in the ACC tournament, and for NCAA Tournament qualification, so this three match home-stand this week is critical.”
