Sept. 26, 2001
Jacket Volleyball Takes on Clemson Tigers This Friday
Standing at 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (6-3) takes on conference rival Clemson (4-6, 0-3 ACC) in O’Keefe Gym at 7 p.m. on Friday in its only match slated this week. The match is scheduled to be aired on a tape-delayed basis on Fox Sports Net South on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m.
The Jackets dropped their conference opener last week to Duke in five games, but are currently on a two-match win streak after defeating Florida State and Wake Forest over the weekend and stand in third place in the ACC standings.
To date, the Yellow Jackets have been led by seniors Maja Pachale and Kyleen Bell. Pachale currently stands atop the conference in kills per game (4.68) while leading the team in hitting percentage (.303). Bell leads the team in blocks per game (1.10) and is second on the team in kills per game (3.52).
However, last week the Jackets received excellent performances from Alexandra Press and Amanda Hess. Preiss tallied a career high nine block assists against Duke, and established new career highs in kills (14) and hitting percentage (.684) against Wake Forest. In the match against Duke, Hess tallied a career-high 22 kills and also ended each match last week in double-figure digs, tallying a season-high 17 against the Blue Devils.
“Alex has had some great matches for us recently and it has been real important for us,” said Collier. “We need to share our offensive production among several players. Maja and Ky always seem to carry the offensive load for us, and we have been searching for other players to share in that load and Alex has played great in our last matches.”
“Amanda is our most improved player this year,” said Collier. “Her blocking, passing, and hitting have all been very good. One of the reasons our team has been playing well is that her game has elevated from last year and has really helped us a lot.”
“The most important thing that we are hoping for this week is a significant improvement in our own game,” said Collier. “We are really trying to position ourselves to make a run at the ACC Championship and we have a lot of things that we need to work on on our side of the net in order for us to improve. The Clemson-Georgia Tech match has always been a good rivalry where the teams always compete really strong against each other and we expect that Clemson will play well.”
The Tigers dropped three home matches last week to Wake Forest, Florida State and Duke and are in search of their first conference victory.
“The Clemson team has two very good players in Jessi Betcher and Jodi Steffes,” said head coach Shelton Collier. “Even with an 0-3 start in our conference, they are still a concern because they have the ability to come into the match extra-motivated and extra-hungry for their first conference win. We need to make absolutely sure that we are ready for that and if they do come into our gym with that extra competitive edge, our team needs to be prepared to match their intensity.”
