Nov. 14, 2014
THE FLATS – Senior Courtney Felinski tallied a career-best 16 kills and her first double-double on the season with a career-best 11 digs to lead Georgia Tech (12-15, 5-9 ACC) past the Boston College Eagles (10-14, 5-8) in five sets (22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-15, 15-12) Friday on Senior Night.
“Courtney came out on fire, and she’s been working all this season to make herself play all the way around and she stepped up her game,” head coach Michelle Collier said. “She really showed how valuable she is on the court. She’s been a great role model to this group, very positive and supportive. She definitely deserves a night like this.”
In addition to Felinski, Teegan Van Gunst also had a double-double with 14 kills and 20 digs. Annika Van Gunst put down 12 kills on 21 swings with no errors for a .521 hitting percentage, and freshman Sydney Wilson notched a career-high 10 kills.
“We’ve been working all season on getting our middles more involved and more confident,” Collier said. “Sydney’s growing every match that we play; she’s getting better and better. Rebecca Martin is distributing the ball really well, and Annika Van Gunst did a great job on the right side and put pressure on their defense.
“It was great to see the things we’ve been working on. They held their composure in tough moments and they stayed focused on what we needed to do. They didn’t let the third set beat them down and we fought back.”
Freshman Annika Olsen put up a personal-best 21 digs and sophomore London Ackermann chipped in 19 to help anchor the back row.
Despite falling in set one, 25-22, the Jackets out-hit the Eagles .300 to .282. Tech overcame a 13-9 deficit to pull within one, 22-21, but the Eagles were able to escape the set on a 3-1 run.
Set two was all about the Jackets, who held the Eagles to a .020 hitting clip, while swinging at a .239 percentage. Tech jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind the serving of Felinski, and the Jackets didn’t step off the gas pedal. With a 20-16 lead, Tech rattled off four-straight points and captured the match on a Boston College serving miscue.
Tech worked its way back into game three from a 21-10 deficit to pull within two 22-20 behind the serving of Gabriela Stavnetchei. The Eagles stopped Tech’s momentum, however, winning the next three-straight points to take the set, 25-20.
The Yellow Jackets began the fourth set with renewed energy, taking an 11-5 lead early in the game. A marathon rally capped off by a block from Wilson and Martin to make the score 19-10 in Tech’s favor fueled the Jackets’ momentum and they won by 10, 25-15, to force a fifth frame.
Georgia Tech led 8-5 at the switch in game five. Boston College began threatening to come back, pulling within two, 14-12, but a kill slammed down by Teegan Van Gunst sealed the set for Tech, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
The Jackets are back in action Friday, Nov. 21 at Virginia. First serve in Charlottesville, Va. is set for 7 p.m.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GTVolleyball), Instagram (GTVolleyball), Facebook (Georgia Tech Volleyball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
