Oct. 25, 2007
ATLANTA – The Yellow Jackets, fresh off a sweep of Maryland and Boston College last week, look to continue their winning streak this weekend when they host NC State and North Carolina at O’Keefe Gym. The Jackets (13-8, 7-4 ACC) and Wolfpack (3-18, 0-11) square off Friday at 7 p.m., and Tech meets the Tar Heels (9-11, 5-6 ACC) Saturday at 7 p.m. The Jackets stand fourth in the ACC standings behind Clemson (11-0), Duke (11-1) and Virginia (8-4).
“This is a big weekend for us and a chance to move ahead of the pack in the ACC,” head coach Bond Shymansky said. “We know that both teams coming in are much improved since our first meeting and we need to be prepared to make adjustments and play with a higher efficiency each point. We expect a great home crowd that will really rock O’Keefe Gym this weekend.”
MATCH COVERAGE: Both matches will be available on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) and WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta/www.wrek.org). Live stats can be found at RamblinWreck.com.
MATCH PROMOTIONS: If fans show up in their pink Georgia Tech Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirts -OR- bring a pink lid for the “Save Lids to Save Lives” campaign, they gain free admission on Friday night. Saturday night is Costume Night at O’Keefe Gym. Fans that show up in their Halloween costumes can get in for just $1. Prior to Saturday’s match, the Yellow Jackets will have a special presentation for senior Ulrike Stegemann, a German native whose parents are visiting the United States to see her play for the first time since her arrival in 2004.
Tech vs. The Opponents (UNC leads GT, 27-20, GT leads NCSU, 32-12)
Georgia Tech is 20-27 all-time against North Carolina, but holds a 7-4 record vs. the Tar Heels since Bond Shymansky was promoted to head coach in 2002. UNC is one of just three ACC schools to win more than three matches off Shymanksy-coached teams, with the other two being Duke (7-5) and Maryland (8-4). Since his arrival on the Flats in 2000 (as an assistant coach), the Yellow Jackets are 9-6 against UNC. Georgia Tech is 11-8 against UNC at home and has won three of the last four matches between the two teams in Atlanta. The Jackets are currently riding a three-match winning streak over the Tar Heels, including posting a 3-1 victory in Chapel Hill earlier this season.
The Yellow Jackets have posted an all-time record of 32-12 against NC State and are a perfect 11-0 vs. the Wolfpack under head coach Bond Shymansky. NC State is the only Atlantic Coast Conference school that has yet to record a win against a Shymansky-coached team. In fact, the Wolfpack’s last win over the Yellow Jackets came in 1999, the season prior to Shymansky’s arrival on the Flats. Tech has won the last 15 meetings between the two schools, including posting a 3-1 win in Raleigh earlier this year. The Jackets are 15-5 vs. NC State at home, having won seven-straight home matches against the Wolfpack.
Jackets Rise to Occasion on Dig For the Cure Weekend
With 74 digs in a five-set win against Maryland last Friday, the Yellow Jackets won more than just an ACC match against the Terrapins. The team’s defensive performance, in addition to the donations and pledges made by fellow students, fans, parents and coworkers, helped Georgia Tech raise nearly $7,000 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, an organization that specializes in raising funds to help find the cure for breast cancer.
Kellogg, Stegemann Reach 1,000
Talisa Kellogg reached the 1,000 plateau for kills in a career in the final match of the Regency Suites/Georgia Tech Classic, posting 20 kills against the Kentucky Wildcats. She has recorded 1,194 kills in her 2+ years on the Flats, and is 57 kills away from cracking the top-10 in the Georgia Tech career annals.
Ulrike Stegemann has also surpassed 1,000 kills in her career, notching number 1,000 with a 19-kill performance at North Carolina. The Yellow Jacket senior has notched 1,122 kills in her 3+ years at Georgia Tech.
Milestone Watch
Yellow Jacket sophomore Callie Miller has recorded 284 total blocks since her arrival in 2005, which ranks just two total blocks shy of cracking the top-10 in school history. Miller has 252 block assists in her 2+ years at Tech, which is also just three block assists away from ranking 10th in school history.
Freshman setter Mary Ashley Tippins is well on her way to cracking the top-10 for assists in just her first year on the Flats. The Atlanta native has notched 558 assists through the first half of the season and needs just 204 more to rank in the top-10. Junior libero Michelle Kandell has posted 384 digs in 2007, which is just 24 digs shy of cracking the top-10 for single-season digs at Georgia Tech. The record is held by Marisa Aston, who notched 522 digs in 2004.
Up Next
Tech hits the road for three matches next week – traveling to Clemson on Tuesday (7 p.m.) and Virginia Tech (Friday, 7 p.m.) and Virginia (Saturday, 7 p.m.) next weekend.
