Nov. 12, 2004
Laura Kuhn had 10 kills and three block assists while hitting .471 as the Georgia Tech volleyball team won its 20th straight match, defeating Maryland 3-0 (30-23, 35-33, 30-23) Friday night. With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 22-5, 15-0 Atlantic Coast Conference while the Terrapins drop to 12-13, 7-8 ACC.
“That was a good win for us tonight and it put us one step closer to our goal of finishing undefeated this season in the ACC,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “Maryland did a good job of containing our outside hitters, but it allowed other players in our front row to step up and make big contributions. Laura continues to be more of a factor for our offense every match. Most of all, our defense came through again with another gritty performance on the road.”
The Yellow Jackets will return to action tomorrow afternoon and play their final ACC match when they take on the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va., at 12 p.m.
Tech outhit the Terrapins, .257 to .162 as Lauren Sauer and Lynnette Moster each recorded 15 kills, followed by Ulrike Stegemann who had nine and Jayme Gergen who had seven. Lindsey Laband recorded 50 assists to lead the Jackets.
Defensively, Marisa Aston led Tech with 18 digs as the Jackets outdug the Terrapins 68 to 46. With Aston 18 digs, she moved into second place on the Tech career dig list with 1,463, surpassing former standout Wendy Malins. Also in double-figure digs were Abby Showers who posted 13 digs, Laband with 12 and Moster followed with 11. At the net, Sauer had four blocks, followed by Gergen who had three and Stegemann who posted two. Gergen’s three block assists in the match moved her into fifth place on the Tech career block assist list, moving ahead of Alexandra Preiss.
The Terrapins were led by Rachel Wagener who had nine kills and five block assists in the match.
In the first game, the Jackets trailed 10-12 before a kill from Gergen and then a stuff block from Gergen and Kuhn tied the game at 12-12. Behind the serve of Moster, a solo block was recorded by Sauer, an overpass by Gillming gave the Jackets a point and a kill from Gergen gave Tech the lead at 15-12. After a Maryland timeout, Maryland pulled to within two points at 19-17 on two straight hitting errors by Tech. The Jackets then built a 24-20 lead on kills from Stegemann and Moster, causing the Terps to call their final timeout. After the timeout, Jade Brown recorded a kill but the Jackets came right back with a kill from Gergen. The Jackets closed out the game with a kill from Stegemann, a service ace from Randall and a kill off the hands by Moster to win, 30-23.
Game two was close throughout, with neither team taking control. The score was tied 16 times until the Jackets took a two point lead at 21-19 on a hitting error by Wagener and a kill off the hands of the block from Moster. The Jackets then took a 24-20 lead on a service ace from Laband and two kills from Moster. But the Terps climbed back into the match and took a 26-25 lead on three hitting errors and a serve reception error. After a Georgia Tech timeout, Sauer hit a ball off the hands of a Maryland blocker, and then she tipped a set from Gergen into the middle of the court, and then completed the next play with a block with Gergen, giving the Jackets a 28-26 lead. Maryland then called a timeout and earned a kill from Stephanie Smith when Gergen was called in the net on the block to make the score 28-27. A service error by Maryland made the score 29-28, but Jade Brown came right back with a kill to tie the score at 29-29. Another service error by the Terps gave Tech another chance to win the game, 30-29, but Stephanie Smith recorded a kill to tie it again at 30-30. Moster recorded her eighth kill of the game, but then missed a chance at an overpass, which tied the score once again at 31-31. Tech came right back with a kill from Kuhn, but then Moster just missed the hands of a Terp blocker to tie the game again at 32-32. Moster then recorded her ninth kill of the game, only to miss a chance to end the game as she hit a ball out of the backrow into the net. With the score tied at 33-33, Kuhn rolled a ball over the Maryland block, and then Sarah Treadwell recorded a hitting error, giving the Jackets the game, 35-33.
Tech built an early 4-0 lead in game three on a kill from Moster and Kuhn, a hitting error from Treadwell and a stuff block from Kuhn and Stegemann. Maryland closed the gap to two points at 10-8 with a kill from Wagener and a hitting error from Stegemann, but the Jackets pushed the lead back to 16-10 on a kill from Moster and two straight Maryland hitting errors. After a Terrapin timeout, Sauer crushed an overpass to make the score 17-10 and Moster recorded a service ace to give the Jackets a 18-10 lead. The Jackets closed out the game on a kill from Stegemann and won, 30-23.
