ATLANTA (September 13) – The Georgia Tech volleyball team continues to face a tough non-conference schedule as they travel to Ft. Collins, Colo., to participate in the Colorado State Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Tech opens the tournament with 1999 NCAA Tournament team Loyola-Chicago (3-3) at 7 p.m. on Friday. Saturday, the Jackets will square off against Massachusetts (3-3) at 10 a.m. followed by a 7 p.m. matchup against No. 4 Colorado State ( 8-1).
| Ida Mabry received all-tournament honors at the Davidson Wildcat Classic. |
The Yellow Jackets enter the tournament with a 7-2 record, after capturing two victories Tuesday night against UT-Chattanooga (4-6) and Georgia State (10-4). Tech’s losses have come at the hands of 10th-ranked Minnesota and 11th-ranked Pacific.
“We are real proud with the way our team played against Minnesota and Pacific last weekend,” said head coach Shelton Collier. “Our team showed a great deal of sustained intensity and we really made a lot of progress as a team. I think after this past weekend, we are even more ready for our trip out to Colorado.”
| Kele Eveland has helped the Yellow Jackets to a 7-2 start to their season. |
“We are excited to play Colorado State. They have recently defeated top-ranked UCLA and Florida, two great programs, and this is another opportunity for us to play a top-10 program before we start conference play, and a chance to move into the national rankings.”
Tech continues to be led this season by a number of players. Junior outside hitter Maja Pachale (Schwerin, Germany) leads the team in kills per game (3.92) and digs (83) and earned all-tournament honors at the Davidson Wildcat Classic. Junior middle blocker Kyleen Bell (Rocklin, Calif.) leads the team in hitting percentage (.284) and blocks per game (.97) and received all-tournament honors at the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. Junior rightside player Ida Mabry (Divjake, Albania) leads the team with 94 kills and earned all-tournament recognition at the Davidson Wildcat Classic. Freshman setter Kele Eveland (Grand Rapids, Mich.), who was named to the Davidson Wildcat Classic all-tournament team, has continued to make her presence known running the offense. She has tallied 308 assists on the season and is ranked fourth in the conference in assists per game (11.85).
| Kyleen Bell is leading the Yellow Jackets in hitting percentage this season. |
“We have a number of players who are playing high-level volleyball,” said Collier. “We have had four different players receive all-tournament honors, which I think really shows the strength of our team. I am real pleased with how our team is coming together right now.”
“Our players are very motivated to play in Colorado because they thought they played well last weekend in a five-game loss to the University of the Pacific,” said Collier. “At the same time, they are very hungry to improve and to put us on the right track to win an ACC Championship.”
