Nov. 8, 2012
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech volleyball team defeated No. 22 North Carolina, 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 18-16), at O’Keefe Gym on Thursday night. Tech improves to 17-10 on the season and 8-8 in the ACC, while the Tar Heels fall to 21-5 overall and 12-4 in league action.
“I thought we showed a lot of character tonight,” head coach Tonya Johnson said. “I’m proud of our kids because they stayed poised throughout the match. North Carolina is a great team, coming off two big wins over Miami and FSU. I thought we were relentless in the end and made big plays when we needed to.”
North Carolina entered the match after topping two ranked teams last weekend in No. 11 Florida State and No. 23 Miami.
Tech’s five-set win marked the first victory for the Yellow Jackets against a ranked opponent since Oct. 16, 2011 when Kaleigh Colson recorded a triple-double to defeat then-No. 23 Miami, 3-1.
Monique Mead led all players with 20 kills and added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. She needs just four more kills to top the all-time list at Georgia Tech – 1,859 set by Lynette Moser from 2001-04.
Bailey Hunter added 15 kills of her own, and both Annie Czarnecki and Chanell Clark-Bibbs recorded two solo blocks each.
The Yellow Jackets set a high tempo in the first set that carried throughout the match. Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the contest and kept that momentum going for the whole set. GT led 15-5 at one point in the match and claimed the opener 25-18.
The Tar Heels countered in game two. Although Tech was in the lead, 11-9, the Heels went on a quick 4-0 rally that gave them the lead, which they maintained for the rest of the game.
The next two games were back and forth battles that featured eight tied scores and three lead changes. Tech claimed the third game, hitting .227 in the set as UNC registered a .037 clip.
The Tar Heels stayed alive in the match by winning game four. They held Tech to a .000 hitting percentage in that frame.
The fifth set was nip and tuck with 13 tied scores and four lead changes, including four match-points. With the score tied 16-16, Tech earned match-point on a kill by Hunter and put the game away with an exclamation point courtesy of a block by Czarnecki and Mead.
Tech returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 10 against NC State at 7 p.m. in O’Keefe Gym. The squad will honor its five seniors prior to the match for Senior Night.
