Oct. 26, 2014
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech (10-13, 3-7 ACC) had ninth-ranked North Carolina (17-2, 8-1) on its heels 2-0 in the match, but the Tar Heels mounted a comeback to win the next three sets, defeating the Yellow Jackets, 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 11-25, 9-15), Sunday afternoon at O’Keefe Gym.
Teegan Van Gunst and Annika Van Gunst led Tech’s offense with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Four Yellow Jackets tallied double digit digs led by London Ackermann (22), Annika Van Gunst (12), Teegan Van Gunst (11) and Annika Olsen (10).
“I think we came out executing what we needed to against them,” head coach Michelle Collier said. “We came out serving and passing really well, and defensively we got a lot of touches and were able to hit around their big block.
“It’s about sustaining. We knew they were going to adjust and try some different things that we hadn’t scouted or seen. That’s what they needed to do to win. They made great adjustments, and we didn’t raise our level and do the things we needed to do to beat those adjustments.”
The Yellow Jackets hit a whopping .414 in the opening frame, coming out strong with three players hitting above .300. Tech took the lead at 4-3 and never looked back. Teegan Van Gunst notched four kills in the game, including the game-winning putdown, and her back-to-back aces gave Tech a 23-17 lead.
Tech dominated set two, holding the Tar Heels to a .045 hitting clip. Leading 22-19, Georgia Tech won the next three-straight thanks to kills by Annika Van Gunst, Sydney Wilson and Teegan Van Gunst to win, 25-19.
North Carolina came out of the break energized and fought back into the match. The third game featured seven early tied scores and three lead changes. Knotted 12-12, North Carolina rallied to win three straight points and rode that momentum through the remainder of the set, winning 25-20.
The Tar Heels pulled away from Tech after rattling off five straight to break a 5-5 tie in game four. North Carolina didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal, defeating the Jackets 25-11. The Heels led 8-4 at the switch in game five and led by as much as five, 11-6, before capturing the match 15-9.
The Jackets are back in action Friday at Norte Dame. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
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