Nov. 11, 2004
With a perfect 14-0 Atlantic Coast Conference record, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (21-5, 14-0 ACC) travels to Maryland and Virginia this weekend for its final two ACC matches of the 2004 season. The Jackets will take on the Terrapins (12-12, 7-7 ACC) Friday at 7 p.m. in the Comcast Center followed by a 12 p.m. meeting Saturday with the Cavaliers (17-9, 7-7 ACC) in Memorial Gym.
Georgia Tech is seeking to finish the conference slate without a defeat for the first time in school history. Should the Jackets end with a 16-0 record, they would become the first team in the ACC
Friday’s match with Maryland marks the 40th meeting between the two schools with the Terrapins holding the series advantage, 22-17. In the match earlier this season, Tech won in three games, 30-20, 30-21, 30-23. In that match, Lauren Sauer led the Jackets with 17 kills and three total blocks.
“Our matches with Maryland are always very competitive,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “They are a very gritty team and have dynamic athletes that when they are on can pose a lot of problems for teams. They beat a good Florida State team last weekend and then lost a close match to Miami and since we’ve faced them in October, have made some improvements. Their gym gets very loud and they have great fans and I expect that we will have to work very hard to win.”
Saturday’s contest with Virginia marks the 36th meeting with the Jackets leading the series, 21-14. The two teams met earlier this season in Atlanta, with the Jackets winning in four games, 30-19, 30-25, 29-31, 30-28. In that match, Lynnette Moster led the Jackets recording 29 kills and 15 digs while Sauer added 20 kills and hit .351.
“In our match earlier this year, Virginia played very well in the last two games and really gave our team a number of problems,” said Shymansky. “They are a very young team and they play very well together. They have two very good outside hitters in Sarah Kirkwood and Lindsey Osco and both had very good matches against us earlier this year so it will be important for our defense to key in on them. In addition, it will be senior night for a number of their players, so I’m sure that their team will play very inspired.”
