Oct. 27, 2005
Halfway through the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of its schedule, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (13-7, 9-2 ACC) begins the second half of ACC play Friday when the team travels to the state of North Carolina to take on Duke (13-6, 7-4 ACC) at 7 p.m. Friday and Wake Forest (11-9, 4-7 ACC) at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Friday, the Yellow Jackets will face Duke at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium in a match that marks the 47th meeting between the Blue Devils and Tech with Duke leading the series, 29-17. The Blue Devils defeated the Yellow Jackets in four games earlier this season, but Tech was won six of the last seven meetings.
“Our team is anxious for the rematch against Duke,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “We feel that our improvement over the course of conference play gives us a lot of confidence and reason for excitement for the match Friday night. Duke is a strong team and continues to get strong leadership from Carrie DeMange and Ali Hausfeld as well as other players who are stepping up. Playing on the road always presents a challenge for us and our team is working hard to prepare.”
The Jackets and Wake Forest square off Saturday at 6 p.m. in Reynolds Gym. Saturday’s match marks the 26th meeting between the Demon Deacons and the Jackets, with Tech holding the edge, 19-6. Tech defeated Wake Forest earlier this season in Atlanta and has now won the last 12 meetings.
“Wake Forest is real hot right now and run a very quick offense with explosive middles and have a very aggressive setter in Erin Borhart,” said Shymansky. “We struggled against them earlier this season in our own gym and we know that they will be hungry to play us on their home court.”
With a 9-2 conference record, the Yellow Jackets stand in a tie for second place with North Carolina in the ACC standings through the first half of conference play and are one match behind Maryland. Tech begins its toughest stretch of the ACC schedule, though, playing seven of 11 matches away from O’Keefe Gym.
“The first 11 matches we were seven at home and four on the road and now it’s just the opposite, so that will certainly be a challenge for us but I think our team is mature enough to handle it,” said Shymansky. “We are getting better everyday and getting more confident and maturing and I feel that we are ready to step up to that task. The second half of the season are where the teams that improve will rise to the top of the conference standings and the teams that are stagnant will drop so we want to make sure we are one of the rising teams.”
