Aug. 28, 2011
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
It’s been said that “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
On Friday night, the Georgia Tech volleyball team got to serve it (and set it and dig it and spike it) at its coldest, when they put Kansas State on ice in its season opener and the first of three matches in the Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic.
That inspired Sting Daily to look back at some of the better revenge games the Yellow Jackets have put up over the years.
Here are five of them, including Friday night’s win:
Volleyball: 8/27/11 vs. Kansas State: A year after being taken in Manhattan, 3-0, by host Kansas State in their Varney’s Kansas State Invitational, the Yellow Jackets took out the Wildcats as hosts of their tournament. After spotting K-State a set (25-19), Tech took the next three, 25-15, 25-23 and 27-25 to win the match. Junior outside hitter Monique Mead put up a double-double, with a 42 kills and 17 digs, both match-highs, and freshman setter Ali Santi dished out 46 assists with nine digs in the match, which saw 14 lead changes, six in the final set, and 36 ties. With the match even at a set apiece, Tech closed on a 6-1 run to take the third set. Tech pulled out the fourth set, when neither team led by more than three points and saw 15 ties and six lead changes.
Football: 10/7/1916, vs. Cumberland College: There were no ties, no lead changes and, basically no chance for Cumberland College on Oct. 7, 1916, as the Yellow Jackets put a 222-0 hurt on the Bulldogs. The “game” came about because Cumberland Baseball had knocked around Tech, 22-0, that spring, in a game they were accused of using pros. Tech’s baseball coach that day was John Heisman, who also coached football. That fall, Tech put his football team out to play a ragtag group thrown together by Cumberland, which had disbanded football, but, in a valuable lesson about tying up loose ends, had not properly cancelled the contract for the game. Given the choice of paying the $3,000 forfeiture fee or playing with a thrown-together team for the $500 guarantee money, they choose the latter. Money could not buy happiness, or even a point. The two schools have never met again in any athletic endeavor. Tech scored a record 32 touchdowns and had 978 rushing yards in the game in which they lead 63-0 after one quarter, 126-0 at the half and 180-0 after three. Oddly, neither team got a first down on the day — Cumberland couldn’t get one and Tech never needed one.
Women’s Basketball: 12/5/10, vs. Georgia: Georgia Tech hasn’t had a lot to cheer about in its rivalry with Georgia, but last Dec. 5 was one such day. Tech demolished the UGA, 69-53, the largest margin of victory for the Yellow Jackets in the series and marked Tech’s second home-court winning streak. Freshman Tyaunna Marshall led the way with a game-high 20 points, while senior Alex Montgomery added 18, while junior point guard Metra Walthour had a superb all-around game, with 16 points, five assists, and four steals, without committing a turnover. The Jackets, who led by a slim 35-31 margin at the break, used a 13-3 run in a little over four minutes early in the second half to pull away. They dominated the boards (50-29), and blocked a season-high seven shots in the victory, seen by the fifth-largest crowd in school women’s hoops history.
Golf: 10/24-26/10: vs. many at The U.S. Collegiate Championship: It’s not often a team can claim revenge against the entire nation in one weekend, but the Georgia Tech Golf Team was able to do just that by not only winning the 2010 U.S. Collegiate Championship, but doing so emphatically, by 27 strokes. Georgia Tech has been the host of the Tournament, held annually since 2006 at The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, but prior to ’10, had never won the event. Adding insult to injury, they had seen Clemson win it twice (2006, ’09) and Georgia win it once (’07). Bruce Heppler’s squad was rude hosts in 2010, leading wire-to-wire. Junior James White, who finished 12-under, also led from start to finish in winning individual honors by five shots. White shot a course-record a 62 in the first round and never looked back. All five of Tech’s players finished in the top 13.
Softball: 2/13/10, vs. #3 Florida: Georgia Tech had been 0-5 all-time and 0-4 in the Sharon Perkins era against the University of Florida when the team took the field against the #3 Gators at the 2010 USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament. Tech had been outscored 40-6 in those games, and in the most recent game, almost a year to the day earlier (Feb. 15, 2009), endured an 11-1 blistering at the hands of UF. On this day, however, the Gators had no hope — actually too much Hope — in the No. 13/14 Jackets’ 3-0 victory. Freshman Hope Rush made quite a collegiate debut, throwing a five-hit shutout and hitting a two-run homer in the game, outpitching UF’s Stephanie Brombacher, who suffered her first collegiate loss (she entered the game 42-0. The third-ranked Gators became the highest-ranked opponent to fall to Georgia Tech.
For fans who are still hungry, here are a couple more opportunities coming up for Georgia Tech teams to avenge recent losses.
Football vs. Kansas: Remember the 28-25 loss last Sept. 11 in Lawrence? The 2011 Jackets do and have a date with the Jayhawks at Bobby Dodd on Sept. 17.
Men’s Basketball vs. Northwestern: The Yellow Jackets were buried under an avalanche of threes against the Wildcats in Evanston in last season’s ACC/Big 10 Challenge. This year, the same two teams meet in the Challenge, this time at Philips Arena on Nov. 29.
Readers with better, longer-lasting, deeper-seeded memories are encouraged to e-mail us with your favorite revenge match!
