RALEIGH, NC – Ida Mabry recorded a season-high 22 kills and hit an impressive .625 as the Tech volleyball team (10-4, 1-1) defeated NC State (5-8, 0-2) on Saturday night in four games, 14-16, 16-14, 15-11, 15-12. Teryl Townsend led the team in digs as she recorded 14, while Ky Bell added 20 kills and Kele Eveland matched her career high with 70 assists.
NC State jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in game one as they connected on four kills, and scored on Tech hitting and passing errors. The Jackets would settle down and see their offense begin to click, as they scored six straight points to make it 7-8 on kills from Bell, Mabry and a dig by Christine Shelby which led to a kill from Eveland. The Wolfpack then would make it 13-9 as Charece Williams recorded a kill, Eveland dumped a ball out of bounds and Shelby was aced. Tech battled back and took the lead, 14-13 as an excellent dig from Townsend led to a State error, Mabry and Bell connected on a stuff block, Maja Pachale recorded a kill on an amazing dig from Mabry, and Bell tallied a kill. The two teams would then sideout five times before the Wolfpack would score on an error from Pachale and a kill from Williams, regaining the lead 15-14. It then took six more side-outs before State scored the final point of the game and won, 16-14, on a kill from Katie Kost.
Game two saw Tech take an early 3-0 with two kills from Mabry and a block from Townsend and Mabry. State would come back and tie the game at three on a ball-handling error from Eveland and a hitting error by Mabry. The Jackets then recorded two service aces to make the score 5-3 before the Wolfpack regained the lead, 6-5 on a kill from Williams and two hitting errors by Tech. But Tech would score four points to make the score 10-7 on blocks from Mabry and Townsend and an ace from Eveland. However, State came back to take the lead, 11-10 as Townsend recorded two unforced errors, Eveland was called for being in the net, and Stephanie Stambaugh recorded a kill. The two teams would then sideout back and forth before State took the lead, 14-12 as three strong defensive plays by the Wolfpack led to three straight points on kills from Tara Greene and Alison Kreager. Tech then scored on a kill from Townsend and a block from Amanda Hess and Townsend to tie the score at 14-14. An ace from Mabry then made the score 15-14, followed by a hitting error out of bounds by State, allowing the Jackets to win game two, 16-14.
The Jackets rolled in game three, taking a commanding 13-4 lead on two kills from Mabry, a kill from Hess, block from Mabry and Townsend and four NC State errors. With the score 14-5, the Wolfpack tallied six straight points as they recorded three aces and scored on errors from Alexandra Preiss and Eveland. Tech regained the serve on a kill from Townsend and recorded the final point of the game on a kill from Pachale to win game three, 15-11.
Tech carried momentum from the third game into the fourth and took an early 6-2 lead on kills from Geeske Banck and Bell. State then rallied to take the lead, 6-9, as they scored seven points in a row on two blocking errors from the Jackets, and hitting errors from Bell, Banck and Pachale. But, Tech remained under control and came back to tie the score at 9-9 on stuff blocks from Townsend and Eveland and a kill from Bell. The Wolfpack retook the lead, 11-9, on a kill from Greene and a passing error from Shelby. The two teams sidedout for six rotations before Tech scored to make the game 12-11 on a kill from Banck and a hitting error from Stambaugh. A blocking error from Eveland made the score 12-12 before Tech scored three straight points to take the game 15-12.
Georgia Tech returns to action at 7 p.m. on Friday night as they play host to Virginia in O’Keefe Gymnasium.
