Sept. 30, 2005
Ulli Stegemann recorded a career high 20 kills and hit .515 as the Georgia Tech volleyball team posted a 3-2 (27-30, 30-27, 19-30, 30-27, 15-12) win on the road over Florida State Friday. With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 5-6, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference while the Seminoles fall to 3-8, 1-2 ACC.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Sunday when they take on Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. at 1 p.m.
“This was a gritty performance by our team tonight, and I was particularly proud of the way we came back in games four and five after a poor showing in game three,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “Ulli was unstoppable tonight and was our go-to player throughout the match. I was also impressed with the play of Nikki and Callie, both of whom blocked very well tonight and who also did a good job of being a part of our offense. Anytime you win on the road, it’s an accomplishment and we hope to carry this momentum into our match Sunday against Miami.”
In addition to Stegemann, the Yellow Jackets were led by Callie Miller, who had 10 kills and hit .474, Nikki Kaminskas who had five kills and hit .364, Laura DeMichelis who had eight kills and Talisa Kellogg who posted seven. Lindsey Laband ran the offense, recording 47 assists.
Defensively, the Jackets were led Jennifer Randall, who had 16 digs, while Laband chipped in eight, Lindsey Gray recorded seven and Kellogg added six. At the net, Kaminskas recorded a career high seven blocks, while Kellogg added four block assists, and Miller and Laband each had three block assists.
At the service line, Tech posted a season-best eight service aces as Kellogg recorded a career high three, while Randall, Gray, Kaminskas, Stegemann and Laband each posted one.
The Seminoles were led by Andreza Santos who had 17 kills while Makini Thompson and Lauren Scott each recorded 14.
Game one was close throughout, with neither team holding more than a four point lead. Both offenses were strong, as Tech hit .258 in the game while the Seminoles hit .296. The score went back and forth and was tied as late as 26-26 before the Seminoles took a lead it would not relinquish on a service reception error by Katie Mohs. Florida State then made the score 28-26 after a kill from Lauren Scott. The Jackets responded with a kill from Stegemann, but a service error from Kellogg, one of six service errors in the game, gave Florida State a 29-27 lead. The Seminoles scored the game’s final point on a hitting error from Stegemann to win 30-27. In the first game, the Jackets gave up 12 points, either on reception errors or service errors.
In game two, the Jackets built an early 11-7 lead on several FSU errors, but the Seminoles responded and narrowed the lead to 12-11 on two kills from Santos. The Jackets then came back and took a 23-19 lead on a kill from Stegemann and a stuff block from Stegemann and Miller. After a Seminole timeout, FSU scored points on a kill from Makina Thompson, a ballhandling error from Stegemann and a reception error by Randall to make the score 23-22. Gabrielle Rivera then recorded one of seven service errors in the game by the Seminoles to make the score 24-22. After a hitting error by Stegemann made the score 27-26, the Jackets responded with two straight kills from Stegemann and a kill from Gray to win the game, 30-27.
Game three saw Tech’s passing and defense struggle, with Florida State recording four service aces and hitting .464 in the game. The score was tied at 6-6 before the Seminoles went on a scoring run with kills from Lauren Scott, Andreza Santos and hitting errors from Lindsey Gray and Laband to take a 13-8 lead. With the score 10-15, the Seminoles went on a five point scoring run, earning points on a kill from Gabrielle Rivera and then on hitting errors from Miller, Kellogg and a reception error from Gray. Things continued to unravel for the Jackets as FSU built a 27-14 lead on several Tech hitting errors and on kills from the Seminoles. FSU won the final point of the game on a kill from Rivera to win the game, 30-19.
In game four, the Jackets regrouped and had much more success with their offense and on serve reception and defense. Tech hit .390 in the game while the Seminoles hit .146. Tech led by as many as six at 16-10, but the Seminoles came back and tied the score at 18-18 after kills by Santos and Thompson. Tech then trailed 18-21 but then scored on two straight hitting errors by FSU and tied the score at 21-21 on a kill from Stegemann. With the score tied at 26-26, the Jackets took a 27-26 lead on a service error from Skower and then scored on a kill from Kellogg to make the score 28-26. The Seminoles responded with a kill from Santos, but then two straight hitting errors gave the Jackets the game, 30-27.
The score was tied at 4-4 in game five before FSU took a two point lead on a kill from Santos and a hitting error by DeMichelis. The Jackets tied the score at 7-7 on a kill from Miller and a service ace from Randall but the Seminoles took an 8-7 lead on a kill from Santos. The Jackets then scored points on a hitting error from Scott, a stuff block by Kaminskas and Stegemann, a solo block from Kaminskas, a service ace by Laband and then a stuff block from Kellogg and Kaminskas to take a 12-8 lead. The Jackets held a 14-9 lead after a kill from Stegemann, but three straight errors by DeMichelis made the score 14-12. Tech earned the final point of the match on a kill by Stegemann.
