Nov. 14, 2012
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech volleyball team will host Duke on Thursday and Wake Forest on Friday in its final two home matches of the 2012 season. Both contests are set to begin at 7 p.m. in O’Keefe Gym.
Live Coverage
Both matches are available on GameTracker and will be streamed live on All-Access via www.RamblinWreck.com. Listen live on WREK 91.1 FM.
Festivities
Thursday’s match is Fan Appreciation Night, where the first 100 fans get free pizza. On Friday, club and high school volleyball team members receive admission for $1.
Georgia Tech (18-10, 9-8 ACC)
The Yellow Jackets are riding momentum from a pair of home victories last weekend against then-No. 22 North Carolina and NC State. Tech is currently No. 52 in the most recent RPI rankings and is tied for fifth with Clemson in the ACC standings.
Senior Monique Mead was named ACC Player of the Week for her efforts in last weekend’s wins. She became the all-time leader in career kills at Georgia Tech against NC State, tallying five in the first game to top Lynnette Moster’s 1,859 (2001-04). She now has 1,872 kills in her career and counting with three regular season matches left on the schedule. In addition, she needs just three more digs to eclipse 1,000 in her career.
Georgia Tech leads the league in service aces per set (1.81) and is second in hitting percentage (.252). Individually, Annie Czarnecki ranks third with a .396 hitting percentage, Mead is second in kills per set (3.89), Kaleigh Colson is second in the ACC with 10.37 assists per set and four Yellow Jackets are in the top 10 for service aces per set.
Duke (14-15, 5-12)
Duke is looking to bounce back from three-straight losses, including two against No. 13 Florida State and Miami in Durham, N.C. last weekend.
As a team, Duke is hitting .215, while holding opponents to a .187 hitting clip. One of the things the Blue Devils do especially well is dig the ball. Ali McCurdy is first in the league and No. 25 nationally with an impressive 5.45 digs per set average. The squad is second in the ACC with 16.95 digs per set.
Earlier this season, Duke defeated Tech in five sets in Durham. McCurdy had 27 digs against the Yellow Jackets. Mead and Bailey Hunter were able to put down double-digit kills, and Czarnecki hit a team-high .353.
Wake Forest (10-19, 4-13)
Wake Forest dropped two matches at home last weekend to FSU and Miami, and the Demon Deacons are 3-7 in the last 10 matches.
Andrea Beck is the main offensive power for the Deacs with a team-high 365 kills and a .308 hitting percentage. She leads the team with 3.48 kills per set and is also effective on the block, with 19 solo stuffs. Wake Forest is hitting at just a .186 clip, while allowing opponents a .222 percentage.
Earlier this season, Tech swept the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Yellow Jackets hit .297 compared to the Deacons’ .059 clip. Mead had 15 kills and Czarnecki hit .500. Kristin Grissom led Wake Forest with nine kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
