Nov. 10, 2012
THE FLATS – Senior Monique Mead tallied 17 kills and set a new Georgia Tech career kills record in the Yellow Jackets’ 3-1 victory against NC State on Saturday night at O’Keefe Gym. With the win, Georgia Tech improves to 18-10 on the season and 9-8 in ACC play, while the Wolfpack falls to 20-8 overall and 10-7 in conference action.
“The goal this weekend has been refuse to lose,” head coach Tonya Johnson said. “I thought our seniors did a great job tonight, and I thought it was special for them to go out and beat a really great NC State team. NC State keeps the ball off the floor and they look for you to make the errors. I thought our kids stayed composed and did what we had to do.”
Mead needed just four kills to tie the all-time record at Georgia Tech. She recorded five in the first game to become the new leader in Georgia Tech lore and now has 1,872 in her career, topping Lynnette Moster’s 1,859 (2001-04).
Nicki Meyer tallied 17 digs as three additional Yellow Jackets collected double-digit digs. Kaleigh Colson (39 assists; 14 digs) and Mead (17 kills; 11 digs) each had double-doubles.
As a team, the Yellow Jackets recorded 11 aces, and hit .201 compared to the Wolfpack’s .176 hitting clip.
The first game was nip and tuck, and featured 19 tied scores and 11 lead changes. It was Mead’s record-topping kill that gave Tech a 23-22 lead. The Yellow Jackets scored the next two points to close the first game, 25-22.
Tech took an 11-7 lead in the second game, before putting together a 6-0 rally for a 17-7 advantage. NC State countered with seven-straight to close the gap 17-14. The Yellow Jackets held on for a 25-20 win.
The third game was another back and forth battle. The score was tied eight times and after the score was knotted 16-16, NC State took the lead and ran with it to stay alive in the match, 25-21.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth game. Georgia Tech kept the pressure on and closed out the match, 25-16, with kills by Bailey Hunter and Mead.
