Nov. 21, 2014
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Georgia Tech volleyball team (12-16, 5-10 ACC) fell at Virginia (16-12, 9-6) in four sets (25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 21-25) Friday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
Courtney Felinski tallied her second double-double (13 kills, 10 digs) in as many matches. Annika Van Gunst added 13 kills and Lauren Pitz chipped in a career-high 12 kills on 19 swings with one error for a .579 hitting percentage.
On defense, Annika Olsen led the back row with 14 digs, and London Ackermann and Teegan Van Gunst put up 12 digs each.
We started the match passing and siding out really well,” head coach Michelle Collier said. “But we were not able to sustain it, and allowed Virginia to score strings of points, which made it harder to fight back in the end of games.
“We have to get prepared now for a very good Virginia Tech team and we will need to perform better to fight for a win.”
After Virginia jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening frame, the Jackets worked back to tie it 10-10; punctuated by a tip from Courtney Felinski to win a marathon rally. Tech took the lead, 12-11, on a kill from Lauren Pitz and added two more in a row thanks to a block by Pitz and Annika Van Gunst, and an ace from Felinski.
Felinski put down six kills in game one to lead all players and the Jackets had 18 kills to the Cavaliers’ 13 in the 25-23 victory.
The Cavaliers began to gain momentum in game two after breaking a 9-9 tie with a 6-1 run that put them up 15-10, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout. Georgia Tech didn’t quit and gained some ground to get within three, 20-17. The Cavaliers rallied for a 5-1 run to take the second game, 25-18, and even the match, 1-1.
Down 15-11, the Jackets laced together four straight points capped off by a Sydney Wilson kill to knot game three, 15-15. The Cavaliers were able to go up 19-16 and escaped the set with a 25-21 win.
Virginia broke an 8-8 tie to go up 12-8 in game four behind the serving of Lauren Fuller. The Cavaliers had set point 24-18 and three times after as the Yellow Jackets scored three straight, 24-21, before Virginia put the set away, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
The Jackets are back in action Saturday, Nov. 22 at Virginia Tech. First serve in Blacksburg, Va. is set for 6 p.m.
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