Nov. 3, 2007
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Chrissy DeMichelis hit .318 with 22 kills, four of which came in the final game, to lead Georgia Tech (16-9, 10-5 ACC) to a 3-2 (30-27, 26-30, 32-30, 31-33, 15-13) victory over Virginia Tech (12-13, 6-9 ACC) Friday night at Cassell Coliseum.
With Virginia Tech leading 9-8 in the final game, Tech capitalized on a service error and ball handling error by the Hokies to take a one-point lead before turning to DeMichelis, who posted kills for the next three Yellow Jacket points to help Tech to a 13-10 lead. The Jackets then closed out the match with back-to-back kills from Nikki Kaminskas and Talisa Kellogg for their third five-game win of 2007.
DeMichelis’ 22 kills tied a career high while Kellogg and Ulrike Stegemann added 23 and 19 kills, respectively.
DeMichelis also notched a career-high eight total blocks against the Hokies, six of which were solo blocks, to lead Tech’s net defense on the night. The Jackets, as a team, finished with 14 blocks on the night.
Pacing Tech on the back row was junior libero Michelle Kandell, who had 27 digs to move into a tie for sixth place in the Tech record books for digs in a season, as she has recorded 472 in 2007.
Junior setter Allie Niekamp ran Georgia Tech’s offense against Virginia Tech, posting a career-high 71 assists in addition to 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Lindsey Gray also joined Niekamp and Kandell in double figures, recording a season-high 18 digs against the Hokies.
Trailing 21-18, the Yellow Jackets used a 6-1 run to take a two-point lead and finished off the 30-27 game one win with a block by Kaminskas and Niekamp. The Yellow Jacket duo ended with two block assists apiece, while Stegemann led Tech’s offense in the game, hitting .727 with eight kills and no errors on 11 attempts.
With the Jackets leading 17-15 in game two, the Hokies used a run of their own, scoring seven unanswered points to take a five-point lead before holding on to even the match with a 30-26 win. Virginia Tech held Georgia Tech to an .021 hitting clip by posting seven total blocks in the frame, while Tech managed just two blocks after recording six in the opening game of the match.
After 12 tie scores and two lead changes, the Yellow Jackets finished off game three winning 32-30 with a kill by Kaminskas and a block by Kaminskas and Stegemann on match point. Stegemann had five kills and DeMichelis added four in the frame to lead the Yellow Jacket offense, while Kandell posted seven blocks for Georgia Tech.
The Hokies finished game four on a 7-3 run to win, 33-31, setting up a fifth and final game to decide the match winner. Trailing 31-30, Virginia Tech benefited from a pair of attack errors by the Jackets on either side of a block by Kristen Cunningham and Betsy Horowitz to tie the match at 2-2.
The Jackets will continue on to Charlottesville to face the University of Virginia Sunday at 1 p.m. The two teams stand in a tie for third place in the conference standings with identical 10-5 records in ACC matches. Live stats will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
**Notes from the match:
-With 23 kills against Virginia Tech, Talisa Kellogg pushed her career total to 1,271, placing her 10th in the Georgia Tech record books.
-Callie Miller’s three block assists on Friday night raised her career total to 260, which moves her into ninth place in the Yellow Jacket annals.
-Lindsey Gray continued her climb up the Georgia Tech career service aces list, moving into seventh place with her three service aces against the Hokies while bringing her career total to 130.
-With 27 digs against the Hokies, Michelle Kandell moved into a tie for sixth for most digs in a season for a Yellow Jacket. The Georgia Tech junior has recorded 472 digs in 2007, which is tied with Cindy Felling, who had 472 in 1982. Kandell stands just 50 digs shy of the record.
