Nov. 17, 2005
After winning a close 3-2 match at Clemson earlier this week, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (15-12, 11-7 ACC) continues its five match road swing this weekend facing two Atlantic Coast Conference foes. The Yellow Jackets will first travel to Boston to take on Boston College (7-20, 2-16 ACC) Friday at 8 p.m. followed by a match against the University of Maryland (24-3, 15-3) in College Park Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Jackets begin the road trip at Boston College Friday night. Competing for the first time in the ACC, the Eagles enter the week with only two conference victories this season. The Jackets and Boston College have met only three times, with Tech holding the series edge, 3-0, including a 3-0 win earlier this year in Atlanta. Tech was led by Kellogg in that match, who posted 18 kills, hit .405 and had four blocks. As a team, the Jackets hit a season-high .370 in the match.
“Even though we had success against Boston College earlier this season in Atlanta, anytime you play on someone else’s home floor, it can be an entirely different match,” said Shymansky. “It will be extra important for our team to be focused throughout the course of the match for us to have success Friday night.”
Sunday’s match marks the 42nd time that the Jackets have faced the Terrapins, with Maryland holding the series’ edge 22-19. Earlier this season, the Jackets defeated the Terrapins for their first loss of the season in a five-game thriller in O’Keefe Gymnasium. In that match, Callie Miller ended the night with 13 kills and hit .435 and added seven block assists while Talisa Kellogg had a match-high 17 kills and a career-best eight block assists.
“Our match against Maryland earlier this season was very close and very competitive and I expect that our match Sunday will be just the same way,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “Over the last few years, our matches against Maryland have been very close and have gone down to the wire and I’m sure since we beat them earlier this year, they will have some extra motivation to play well. They are a very good offensive team with two great middle blockers who also put up a huge block at the net. We will have to pass sharply and be smart on offense to have success in their gym.”
“We got off to a great start with a win at Clemson earlier this week and I was proud of the way our team fought back on their gym,” said Shymansky. “It’s going to take that same type of motivation and hard work for us to be successful this weekend but I feel like we are up to the challenge.”
