Oct. 13, 2005
Currently on a five-match win streak, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (9-6, 5-1 ACC) travels to North Carolina for two key matches this weekend. Friday, the Jackets will face North Carolina (11-6, 6-1 ACC) at 6:30 p.m. in the Dean Smith Center and Saturday will take on NC State (6-9, 0-7 ACC) at 5 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
Friday, the Yellow Jackets will travel to Chapel Hill and take on the Tar Heels at 6:30 p.m. in a match that marks the 42st contest between the two schools. Although North Carolina leads the series, 25-16, Tech defeated the Tar Heels in both of their meetings last season and has now won seven of the past 11 meetings.
For the first time in the series history, the matchup with the Tar Heels is being played on the campus of North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center and is being held in conjunction with Midnight Madness for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. In addition, the match is being broadcast by CSTV on a tape-delay basis Sunday at 6 p.m.ET, marking the first time that an ACC contest has appeared on CSTV.
In addition, Friday’s match will be broadcast on WREK radio at 91.1 FM or fans my listen in at www.wrek.org.
“Our match at North Carolina is always a very exciting match,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “They always have a great crowd and this year they are expecting over 10,000 to attend which will be a fun atmosphere for us to play in. For the past four years, all of our matches have been very competitive and Friday’s match is for first place in the ACC and that adds even more importance to the match.”
Saturday’s match marks the 38th meeting between the Wolfpack and the Jackets, with Tech holding the edge, 26-11. Tech has now won the last 11 matches against the Wolfpack and also 26 of the last 28 meetings.
“NC State is still in search of their first ACC win this season, but they have been close in several matches this year and are much improved,” said Shymansky. “Our focus in this matchup will be to run our offense at a high level, but also try to contain Stefani Eddins and Adeolo Kosoko who are both key parts to NC State’s offense. NC State is a much better team this season and I’m sure playing on their home court will give them an added edge.”
The Yellow Jackets have been led by several players this year including Talisa Kellogg, who leads the team with 3.36 kills per game and Lindsey Laband who leads the team with 11.34 assists per game. In addition, Ulrike Stegemann leads the team in hitting percentage (.297) and Nikki Kaminskas is averaging a team-best 1.44 blocks per game.
“I’m pleased with where we are as a team right now, but also know that there is still room for improvement,” said Shymansky. “The last two weeks we’ve been playing well and have improved in a lot of areas, but it’s important for us to keep our focus on the matches we have ahead of us and take some of those improvements with us when we play on the road.”
