Sept. 2, 2006
ATLANTA – Junior Ulrike Stegemann had 16 kills and hit a team-high .536, while freshman Chrissy DeMichelis added a career-high 16 kills and senior libero Abby Showers tallied 18 digs to lead Georgia Tech (3-1) past Northern Iowa (4-3) in volleyball 3-2, 24-30, 30-27, 30-22, 17-30, 15-8, to win the 2006 Regency Suites Midtown Invitational on Saturday in O’Keefe Gymnasium.
“It’s great to watch our team work this hard this early in the season,” said Tech coach Bond Shymansky. “We passed really well today and that was the key to our success. Abby Showers gave an inspiring performance and left a lot of sweat out on the floor.”
Sophomore setter Allie Niekamp was named tournament’s most valuable performer for the Yellow Jackets. She posted 55 assists in the final match to help lead Tech past the Panthers. Showers and Stegemann joined her on the all-tournament team for Tech.
Junior hitter Lindsey Gray tallied 15 kills against UNI to round out double-figures on offense for the Jackets.
“We had big contributions from all of our hitters today which kept our offense going,” said Shymansky. “Allie Niekamp has taken ownership to our offensive system and assures us mane great matches ahead.”
Against Georgia State, Tech won the first two games by a margin of 30-28 and 30-27, before cruising to a three-set victory with a 30-20 win in game three. The Jackets hit .241 in the match and sophomore Talisa Kellogg led the way with 16 kills for Tech. Niekamp added 31 assists, while Showers had 15 digs.
The Yellow Jackets will hit the road next weekend as they travel to Lexington, Ky., for the University of Kentucky Volleyball Tournament. Tech will face Villanova and Toledo on Friday, before taking on UK on Saturday. All games can be followed at www.ramblinwreck.com.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Allie Niekamp (MVP), GT
Abby Showers, GT
Ulrike Stegemann, GT
Simona Speed, UGA
Amy Lusk, GSU
Eva Kriegel, MSU
Kristen Belzung, UNI
Danielle Brazda, UNI
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