Nov. 13, 2004
Lynnette Moster recorded 18 kills as 12 digs, her 17th double-double of the season, as the Georgia Tech volleyball team defeated Virginia in three games (31-29, 30-22, 30-22) Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Yellow Jackets have now won 21 straight matches, improving to 23-5 and 16-0 in the ACC while the Cavaliers finish their regular season with a 18-10 record, 8-8 in the ACC.
The win over Virginia marks the first time in school history and the first time since 1997 that a team has ended the ACC season with a perfect 16-0 record.
“The significance of going undefeated through conference play and finishing 16-0 hasn’t quite sunken in for our team yet,” said head coach Bond Shymansky, who in just three seasons has won 50 ACC matches. “We were a little groggy this morning and it was hard to get our up tempo offense going. But our team has been able to grind it out all year long even when they weren’t at their sharpest. Our seniors played fantastic today and have contributed to our program in such significant ways including clinching this year’s regular season title. Lynnette was unstoppable today and is really on fire as we head toward tournament time. Ooli had a big impact on today’s match, as well, which is great to see that we have younger players coming up in our program to continue the success.”
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Friday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Charlottesville, Va. Their opponent has yet to be determined and the entire bracket will be announced Monday afternoon.
Game one was close throughout, with both teams playing solid defense. Tech built a three point lead at 11-8 on a kill in the middle of the court from Stegemann, but it would be as large of a lead as the Jackets would hold. With the score 20-19, the Cavaliers scored on a kill from Alexis Geocaris, and then a poor pass by the Jackets gave Virginia a 20-21 lead. Virginia built a 24-21 lead after a service error by Moster, an attack off the antennae by Sauer and a kill by Kristen Chaney were recorded. After a Tech timeout, the Jackets tied the score at 24-24 on kills from Gergen and Sauer and a hitting error by Sarah Kirkwood. The Jackets then took 27-26 lead on a dump into the back corner by Laband forcing Virginia to call a timeout. With the score tied at 29-29, Moster recorded a kill off the block’s hands and Showers and Gergen recorded a stuff block to give Tech the game, 31-29. In the game, the Jackets hit .367 as Moster had eight kills, followed by Stegemann and Sauer who each had five. Defensively, Randall had seven kills in the game.
The Jackets played much stronger in game two, passing sharper and cutting down on their hitting errors. With the score 8-7, the Jackets received kills from Stegemann and Kuhn and got a setting error by Virginia to take a 11-7 lead. The Jackets then increased their lead to six with a stuff block by Kuhn and Gergen and a kill from Moster, forcing Virginia into a timeout. After the timeout, Tech led by as many as eight points, 17-9, but then the Cavaliers scored four straight points on hitting errors by Moster and Kuhn and two kills from Geocaris to make the score 17-13. Tech regrouped and built a seven point lead once again with a kill from Gergen and Sauer and a service ace from Gergen. With the score 21-14, Virginia took its final timeout and then narrowed the deficit to three points, 22-19, with kills from Chaney and Osco, a blocking error by Laband and a reception error from Showers, causing Tech to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Jackets outscored the Cavaliers 8-3, as Moster posted three kills, Sauer added two kills and a solo block. Tech scored the final point of the game on a hitting error from Osco to win, 30-22. In the game, Sauer recorded six kills and two blocks while Moster and Aston each had six digs.
In game three, the game was close until the Jackets scored three straight points to take a 17-14 lead on kills from Stegemann and Moster and a service ace from Randall and forcing Virginia into a timeout. After the timeout, Tech built a seven point lead at 26-19 on kills from Kuhn, Stegemann and Sauer along with blocks from Moster, Laband and Gergen. The Jackets cruised in the final points of the game, winning 30-22 on a kill into the server’s corner by Stegemann.
