Nov. 25, 2005
Katie Esbrook had 18 kills and hit .406 to lead the Virginia Tech Hokies to a 3-1 (25-30, 31-29, 30-22, 30-28) win over Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Hokies finish out the season with a 13-18, 8-14 ACC while the Yellow Jackets fall to 15-15, 11-10 ACC.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Lindsey Gray who came off the bench to record 10 kills, hit .346 and notch 14 digs, her first double-double in an ACC match in her career. Georgia Tech also was led by Talisa Kellogg who recorded 16 kills, followed by Callie Miller who had 12 kills and five blocks and Ulrike Stegemann who posted 10 kills.
Georgia Tech will complete its 2005 season in Charlottesville when they take on Virginia at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The match started off close in game one with neither team holding more than a three point lead through the first 15 points. With Georgia Tech leading 14-11, Esbrook recorded a hitting error into the net giving the Jackets a 15-11 advantage. The Hokies fought back and tied the score at 15-15 on two Jacket hitting errors and two Virginia Tech kills. The game was then close until Virgina Tech took a three point lead at 19-16 after two straight service aces, forcing the Jackets into a timeout. After the timeout, Kellogg recorded a kill with a tip over the block and then recorded a kill off the hands while the Hokies posted a ball handling error to tie the score at 19-19. With the Jackets leading 23-22, the Jackets went on a 4-1 scoring run, receiving points on kills from Stegemann and Miller, a stuff block by Miller and DeMichelis and a hitting error from Albrecht. The Jackets then scored on three of the last five points of the game with kills from Miller, Laband and Kellogg to win the game, 30-25.
The Jackets held a 20-11 lead in game two, but the Hokies began to chip away at the lead with kills from several hitters and also service errors at key moments by Georgia Tech. Eventually, the Hokies tied the score at 26-26 after a hitting error into the block by Stegemann. After a service error by Cloyd gave the Jackets a 27-26 lead, Esbrook tied the score at 27-27 with a kill off the hands of Miller. Another service error by the Hokies gave Georgia Tech a 28-27 lead but a kill from Brugger tied the score again at 28-28. A hitting error by Stegemann then gave Virginia Tech its first lead of the game, 29-28, but DeMichelis responded with a kill off a Hokie defender to tie the score at 29-29. After a kill from Munoz made the score 30-29, DeMichelis hit a ball into the net to give Virginia Tech the second game, 31-29.
Georgia Tech fell behind right off the start in game three and could really never find a way back into the game. After trailing 6-11 following a kill from Esbrook., the Jackets closed it to within two at 10-12 after a hitting error from Brugger, but it would be as close as Georgia Tech would get the rest of the game. Virginia Tech continued to run its offense and play strong defense and go on to win the third game, 30-22.
The Jackets fought back in game four, falling behind by as many as six in the game, but tying the score and taking a brief lead at 25-24. But, the Hokies hung in the game, continuing to sideout at key times. With the score tied at 27-27, Kellogg hit a ball into the net to give the Hokies a 28-27 lead and then Virginia Tech scored again to take a 29-27 lead. The Jackets scored a point on a kill from Stegemann into the middle of the court, but the Hokies finally put the next ball away on a cross court kill into the chest of Kellogg to win, 30-28.
