Sept. 19, 2007
ATLANTA –
Georgia Tech will begin Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend when it opens on Tobacco Road at North Carolina and NC State. The Yellow Jackets will square off against the Tar Heels (5-5, 1-0 ACC) Friday at 7 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium before meeting the Wolfpack (3-8, 0-1 ACC) Sunday at 2 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.
Match Coverage: Live online and on-demand video coverage of both matches available on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv). Live stats for Friday’s match on RamblinWreck.com; live stats for Sunday’s match on GoPack.com.
The Yellow Jackets went 6-4 in their non-conference slate, with three of their four losses coming to 2006 NCAA Tournament participants and another against a 2005 NCAA Elite Eight performer. Tech’s last match resulted in a 3-2 loss to 10th-ranked Michigan, who had to come back with victories in the last two games of the match to remain undefeated on the season. The Jackets earned a pair of second-place finishes at the Arkansas/Clarion Inn Invitational and the Michigan/Nike Invitational during non-conference play, and look to use the experience gained against the talented opponents as they enter the ACC portion of their schedule this weekend.
“We are all very excited to start ACC play,” Georgia Tech head coach Bond Shymansky said Wednesday. “Our offense is starting to click with Tippins at the helm, and our defense showed some real promise against Michigan this past weekend. We know that the conference schedule is a marathon, not a sprint. So we are going to keep a steady and even pace of improvement throughout the season.”
Team Updates
Georgia Tech – The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 2-1 record at the Michigan/Nike Invitational where they earned a second-place finish after falling to tournament champion and host Michigan, who remained at No. 10 in the national polls this week with a perfect 12-0 record on the season. The Jackets posted a 2-1 record and also finished second at the Arkansas/Clarion Inn Invitational to open the 2007 campaign before going 2-2 at the only home tournament of the season in early September. Georgia Tech has already played a total of four teams that competed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, as well as another that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2005, and has one remaining NCAA participant on its schedule in No. 14 Duke, which it will play twice over the last six weeks of the season.
North Carolina – North Carolina enters the match with a 5-5 record and having already played one ACC match, which resulted in a 3-0 win for the Tar Heels against instate rival NC State last Friday. The Tar Heels have won two-straight matches, and three of their last four. Sue Haydel and Lauren Prussing are pacing the North Carolina offense with 2.64 and 2.86 kills per game, respectively, while Stephanie Jansma runs the Tar Heel offense, averaging 10.73 assists per game. Heather Brooks (1.54 Bpg) and Brianna Eskola (5.20 Dpg) are North Carolina’s top defensive threats.
NC State – The Wolfpack enter the weekend with a 3-8 overall record and a 0-1 mark in ACC matches after falling to the Tar Heels last Friday. NC State will square off against Clemson this Friday before hosting the Yellow Jackets Sunday afternoon. After going 3-1 in the North Carolina Central Tournament to open the season, the Wolfpack have dropped seven-straight matches headed into this weekend’s play. The ‘Pack are led by Lauren Zaniboni, who is averaging 3.34 kills per game, while Alex Smith runs the NC State offense, averaging 8.50 assists per game. Heading up the Wolfpack’s defensive efforts are libero Kasey Ryne (4.50 Dpg) and middle blocker Jana Angel (0.94 Bpg).
Tech vs. the Opponents
Georgia Tech is 19-27 all-time against North Carolina, but holds a 6-4 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 Shymansky-coached teams, with the other two being Duke (7-4) and Maryland (7-4). Since his arrival on the Flats (as an assistant coach in 2000), the Yellow Jackets are 8-6 against UNC.
The Jackets went 2-0 against both North Carolina and NC State a season ago, and the Tar Heels and Wolfpack were the only two ACC teams that didn’t earn at least a split in the season series against Georgia Tech in 2006. Tech defeated North Carolina, 3-0, at home on October 13 to snap a six-match losing skid and earn its first ACC victory of the season.
Tech has posted an all-time record of 31-12 against NC State, and is a perfect 10-0 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, with Tech winning the last 14 meetings between the two schools.
Coaching Milestones
Head coach Bond Shymansky is joining in on the milestone watch this weekend, as the sixth-year head coach will be coaching his 100th match against an ACC opponent on Friday night when the Yellow Jackets take on the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.
Virginia Tech Match Time Set
Due to conflicts with the Georgia Tech football schedule, three match times were set for TBA prior to the season, so as to not interfere with games at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The first of those three matches, a Sept. 29 matchup with Virginia Tech, has now been scheduled for an 8 p.m. start. The Yellow Jackets football game against Clemson is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon.
Up Next
The Jackets return to Atlanta to host Virginia and Virginia Tech next weekend. Tech and the Cavaliers square off at 7 p.m. Friday while the Jackets and Hokies meet at 8 p.m. Saturday. Friday’s match will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis on SportSouth, and both matches can be heard on WREK Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org). Live stats available at RamblinWreck.com.
Included in a complete copy of game notes are:
* Team Updates* How the Teams Match Up* Tech vs. the Opponents* Challenging Schedule* Jackets in Career Rankings* Kellogg with a "K"* Stegemann Charging* Milestone Watch* Coaches Joining In* Virginia Tech Match Time Set* Jackets Tough at Home* Arkansas All-Tournament* Tech All-Tournament* Michigan All-Tournament* Jackets Picked 2nd in ACC* No ACC Tournament* DeMichelis Return* Media Update
