Sept. 23, 2014
THE FLATS – Sophomores Teegan Van Gunst and Rebecca Martin recorded double-doubles to propel the Georgia Tech volleyball team (7-6) past the Kennesaw State Owls (6-8), 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-17), Tuesday in the teams’ first-ever meeting and last tune up before conference play begins this weekend.
“We are building on some momentum and really focused on some things that we have been trying to make consistent all preseason,” head coach Michelle Collier said. “I think toward the end of preseason we started to play a little more consistent, especially with our blocking, defense and serving. It’s good to gain that momentum going into such a tough, conference season.”
Teegan Van Gunst tallied 12 kills and 12 digs, while Martin dished out 26 assists and 15 digs. Lauren Pitz tallied a career-best eight kills on 11 swings with just one error for a .636 hitting percentage to go along with two solo blocks.
“I’m very proud of Lauren,” Collier said. “She’s the type of kid that puts in all of the work that she needs to do to get better. It was a great match for her tonight. We definitely need our middles to be involved and be a part of our offense in order for us to be the team that we want to be, so it was great to see that from them today.”
The Jackets ran a balanced offense as Annika Van Gunst added eight kills, Ashley Askin had six and Sydney Wilson logged five kills.
Tech out-hit the Owls .299 to .127 and had six service aces led by Gabriela Stavnetchei’s three aces. Tech led through the first two sets and didn’t relinquish the lead until the third set.
Tech hit .400 in the opening frame and, with a 9-6 lead, pulled away to a 14-6 advantage behind the serving of Rebecca Martin. Tech maintained its momentum throughout the set, winning 25-13.
The Jackets led 8-6 in game two and went on a 7-2 rally sparked by back-to-back service aces from Annika Van Gunst. The Owls went on a late run with four-straight points late in the set, but it wasn’t enough and the Jackets won 25-21.
Kennesaw State took its first lead of the match in the third set, 5-4. The Jackets worked their way back into the game breaking an 8-8 tie with four-straight points led by a kill from Teegan Van Gunst sandwiched between aces from Stavnetchei.
Leading 17-12, Tech rattled off four consecutive points to stretch the margin to nine points, 21-12. Tech put the set and the match away, 25-17, on a kill by Pitz.
The Jackets kick off ACC play on the road at Duke and at Louisville on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Tech takes on Duke at 6:30 p.m. and the Cardinals at 2 p.m.
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