Nov. 14, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Michelle Kandell eclipsed 30 digs for the second time this season and Georgia Tech (18-8, 10-6 ACC) had three players post over 15 kills on the night, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Yellow Jackets over a gritty Miami team, falling in five sets (25-15, 20-25, 27-29, 25-21, 15-12) to the Hurricanes (23-5, 11-5 ACC) Friday night at the James L. Knight Complex.
Georgia Tech tied the fifth set at 11-11 with back-to-back kills from Allie Niekamp and Callie Miller, but the Hurricanes closed out the frame on a 4-1 run, with three of the four points coming off attacking errors by the Jackets, to capture the five-set victory.
The Jackets bettered the Hurricanes in nearly every statistical category, but the Hurricanes came up with the points when they mattered, including closing out the fourth set on a 7-3 run to tie the match at 2-2.
Kandell tallied 32 digs in the five-set match, and Allie Niekamp and Talisa Kellogg chipped in 17 and 12 digs, respectively, while posting double-doubles on the night. Niekamp notched 52 assists and 17 digs while Kellogg posted 17 kills to go along with 12 digs.
Chrissy DeMichelis led all players with 18 kills, and Callie Miller hit a match-best .433 with 16 kills. Both DeMichelis and Miller posted six total blocks on the night.
In addition to her strong play on Tech’s back row, Kandell led the Jackets with five service aces against the Hurricanes.
Miami used a balanced offensive attack to stop the Jackets in the first set, as six different Hurricanes posted at least two kills in the frame. The `Canes closed out the set on a 9-1 run, with five of the nine points coming off Yellow Jacket errors, to win by a 10-point margin, 25-15.
Leading by just one point late in the second set, the Yellow Jackets used a 6-0 run, which was highlighted by two kills and a pair of solo blocks from DeMichelis, to take a 23-16 lead. DeMichelis finished with four kills and Callie Miller chipped in four more to help Tech to the 25-20 victory, evening the match at 1-1.
Trailing 22-17 in the third set, Georgia Tech’s offense came alive, led by Kellogg, who posted four kills through the rest of the frame to lead Tech to a comeback win. Back-to-back kills by Kellogg, followed by a block from Miller and Mary Ashley Tippins, pulled the Jackets to within two points, and the Jackets narrowed Miami’s lead to 23-22 with another kill as well as a service ace from Kellogg. The Jackets then finished the set on a 9-4 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Jackets return to action Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee when they meet Florida State at 1 p.m. at Tully Gym. Live stats for the match, Tech’s final road contest of the season, will be available at Ramblinwreck.com. The Yellow Jackets will close out the regular season with three home matches, beginning next Friday at 7 p.m.
–GT–
