Nov. 6, 2007
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech volleyball team, fresh off a 2-0 weekend with 3-2 victories on the road against Virginia Tech and Virginia, returns to Atlanta for its final four home matches of 2007 beginning this Thursday vs. Duke (7 p.m.), to be followed by a Friday matchup against Wake Forest (8 p.m.)
Tech (17-9, 11-5 ACC) currently stands in third place in the ACC standings behind co-leaders Clemson and Duke (20-4, 15-1), while Wake Forest is 11th with a 7-18 overall record and 4-12 ACC mark entering the weekend.
Match Promotions: Thursday’s match will be Tech’s annual Jam the Gym night, with the first 150 fans receiving free “Jam the Gym” t-shirts, courtesy of Russell Athletic. Any fans wearing either gold or white to Thursday’s match can also enter for just $1. Fans attending Friday evening’s season-opening men’s basketball game against UNCG can gain admission to Friday’s Georgia Tech – Wake Forest volleyball match for just $1.
Match Coverage: Thursday’s match can be found on SportSouth on a tape-delay basis – it will be aired Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m. There will also be radio coverage for the match against Duke (WREK Radio – 91.1 FM/www.wrek.org), while live stats will be available for both matches at RamblinWreck.com.
The Yellow Jackets have won six of their last seven matches and are led by setter Allie Niekamp (11.28 Apg, 1.90 Dpg). Junior captain Talisa Kellogg is Tech’s top offensive threat (3.92 Kpg, 1.21 Dpg) while Chrissy DeMichelis (3.64 Kpg) and Ulrike Stegemann (3.00 Kpg, 1.91 Dpg) are both averaging at least three kills per game. Junior libero Michelle Kandell has been strong on the back row, averaging a team-best 4.85 digs per game, while Nikki Kaminskas (1.03 Bpg) leads Tech’s blocking efforts.
Georgia Tech has played five matches against 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 against a 2006 NCAA Tournament participant – vs. Duke this week.
Up Next: Tech concludes its home schedule by hosting Miami (Fri., 7 p.m.) and Florida State (Sat., TBA) next weekend. ACC Select (gatech.playonsport.tv) will provide online video for Friday’s match and both matches can be found on WREK Radio and RamblinWreck.com.
Tech vs. the Opponents (Duke leads GT, 32-18; GT leads Wake, 21-8)
After coming back from an 0-2 deficit to win a 3-2 match against the Yellow Jackets in Durham earlier this season, Duke stands at 32-18 all-time against Georgia Tech, but is just 5-7 vs. the Yellow Jackets since Bond Shymansky was tabbed the head coach in 2002. Duke has recorded more wins against the Yellow Jackets during Shymansky’s tenure than any other team, including winning four of the last five matches. The Yellow Jackets were the only ACC team to notch a victory against the Blue Devils last season though, handing Duke a 3-2 loss on Tech’s nationally-televised Dig for the Cure night. Tech likes facing the Blue Devils in Atlanta, as was evidenced by the victory last season, and stands at 11-9 all-time against Duke at O’Keefe Gym. Tech has posted a 5-1 home record against the Blue Devils under Shymansky.
Georgia Tech is 21-8 all-time against Wake Forest, including holding a 10-2 record versus the Demon Deacons since Bond Shymansky was promoted to head coach in 2002. The Yellow Jackets have posted a remarkable 11-3 record against the Demon Deacons in Atlanta, including winning eight-straight matches at O’Keefe Gym. Tech’s last home loss to the Deacs came in 1999. The Yellow Jackets have won two-straight matches against Wake Forest, a 3-1 victory in Atlanta last year and a 3-1 win in Winston-Salem earlier this season.
Success for Tech Continues
With a victory at Virginia last Sunday, the Yellow Jackets have guaranteed themselves an above-.500 finish for the 17th-consecutive year, dating back through the 1991 season. During that span, Tech has averaged more than 24.5 wins per season and just 9.8 losses.
The win at Virginia also guaranteed one more thing for the Yellow Jackets: a .500 or above finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the eighth-consecutive season, which is the most successful run of any ACC team during that span. Virginia has finished .500 or above in the ACC in each of the past four seasons, and could make it five-in-a-row with at least one more conference win, while Duke and Florida have both had at least a .500 conference winning percentage every year since 2004.
Broadcast Information
A replay of Georgia Tech’s Nov. 8 match against Duke will be aired on SportSouth at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18.
Florida State Match Time Set for 7 p.m.
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 match time against Florida State has been set for 7 p.m. due to the 12 noon Georgia Tech – North Carolina football game start time.
Breaking Records in 2007
Junior Michelle Kandell is well on her way to becoming the school’s single-season record holder for digs. With six matches still remaining on the regular-season schedule, the California native already stands fourth in the single-season digs category with 504 in 2007, which is 18 shy of the record. She needs four digs to move into a tie for third place, and nine to move into second. She is one of just five players in school history to notch 500 digs in a season.
