ATLANTA (November 2) – Winners of its last 11 matches and perched atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, the Georgia Tech volleyball team looks to extend that streak on the road this weekend with two key conference matches. Friday night at 7 p.m. the Jackets will take on Maryland (13-11,4 -8 ) in Ritchie Coliseum, followed by a 7:30 p.m. match Saturday night against the Virginia Cavaliers (13-12, 6-6).
| Kele Eveland and Teryl Townsend have been a consistent force for the Jackets in their last two matches. |
“At the beginning of the year, we set a goal of winning the ACC regular season championship, as well as the tournament, so being in first place at this point gives us a good road for us to be able to win the regular season,” said head coach Shelton Collier. “Being in first place is very good for our team psychologically and it also means that we are positioned where we want to be to accomplish our goals.”
Tech defeated Maryland in four games earlier this season. Kyleen Bell who had 18 kills and 14 digs, led the Jackets, while Kele Eveland notched 54 assists in the match.
“Maryland has lost their last three conference matches and I am sure that they will be very hungry to upset the first-place team in the conference in their gym. This weekend is also their last home match of the year, and often times that can create extra motivation for a team to play well.”
Against Virginia, Maja Pachale helped Tech to a four game victory as she collected 18 kills and 14 digs. Bell notched four block assists in the match, and Eveland chipped in 66 assists.
“Last time we played Virginia, Deanna Zwarich and Paige Davis were both very effective against us,” said Collier. “I think that we will prepare this week so that we can do a better job defending those hitters.”
The Jackets continue to be led by middle blocker Kyleen Bell who leads the team in kills 333, blocks per game with 1.12 and hitting percentage with a .360 average. In addition, middle blocker Teryl Townsend has come on strong recently for Tech. In her last two matches, the red-shirt senior hit .483, tallied 31 kills and five blocks in helping the Jackets to two conference victories over Duke and Clemson. Freshman setter Eveland has done a good job of spreading Tech’s offense around as three players have tallied 300 or more kills (Bell, Pachale and Mabry), and the team is hitting a league-leading .265.
“The Maryland and Virginia road trip we have this weekend is a very difficult one because of the travel and because both of those teams play very well at home,” said Collier. “I expect that this weekend will be another challenge for us to win both matches on the road.”
“More than anything, its important that our team play as well as we can play,” said Collier. “We’re just anxious to go up and play as well as we can and try and stay in first place.”
