Sept. 19, 2008
CLEMSON, S.C. – Brittany Roderick and Asia Stawicka combined for 17 block assists to lead Georgia Tech (9-2) to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-21) sweep of Florida A&M (2-7) Friday afternoon at Jervey Gym. With the win, the Yellow Jackets captured the 2008 Clemson Classic title, giving the team their second tournament title of the season.
One day after posting a season-high 28 kills in a five-set win over Clemson, Talisa Kellogg powered the Yellow Jacket offense, hitting .414 while tallying 14 kills on 29 attempts. Freshman Bailey Hunter also had an excellent showing on the outside for the Jackets, hitting .615 with nine kills in two sets.
The match belonged to Tech’s blockers though, as Stawicka tallied nine block assists for the second time this season while Roderick’s eight block assists were a new career high for the Yellow Jacket right side hitter. Roderick also hit .500 with five kills on 10 attempts against the Rattlers.
Sophomore Mary Ashley Tippins ran an efficient offense that hit .333 against the Rattlers while posting 34 assists and a team-best nine digs in the match.
Kellogg notched six kills on nine attempts (.667) in the first set and the Yellow Jackets closed out the frame on an 8-3 run to win, 25-15. The Jackets hit .462 as a team while holding the Rattlers to a .100 hitting clip by posting 11 digs and a pair of block assists.
In the second set the Jackets posted 7.5 total blocks, including five block assists by both Stawicka and Roderick, to win, 25-20. Tech held just a 20-19 lead late in the frame, but the Jackets finished off the set on a 5-1 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
A 6-1 run early in the third set helped the Yellow Jackets to a 13-6 lead, and Tech cruised to a 25-21 win behind the solid play of Michelle Kandell, who collected four of her eight digs in the frame.
Florida A&M finished the match hitting just .078, but was led by a 14-kill performance from Jovana Blazeski.
The Yellow Jackets will take the rest of the weekend off and return to action next Friday and Saturday when they travel to the state of Virginia for a pair of ACC matches against Virginia and Virginia Tech.
–GT–
