Sept. 15, 2011
CLEMSON, S.C. – Junior Monique Mead had 29 kills, 14 digs and eight total blocks and freshman Ali Santi had 47 assists and 17 digs as the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (7-3) came back to beat Furman (7-5), 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-22, 29-27) Thursday night in the Clemson Classic.
“We came out a little sluggish tonight, but I was pleased how we came out in set two and were able to keep it going for the rest of the match,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “I’m happy about the win over a solid Furman team that kept the pressure on throughout the match. Now we have to turn our attention to a very good Clemson team that is playing well right now and we are going to have to match their intensity if we want to come out with a win.”
Mead hit .323 on the night as she recorded her fifth double-double of the season and seventh match of at least 20 kills. The nation’s leader in kills came within one of tying her career high and two blocks shy of a triple double. For Santi, it was her third double-double of the season.
Senior Asia Stawicka and sophomore Jennifer Percy had nine kills apiece while junior Alexis Woodson added six. Stawicka hit .500 and also had seven digs and six total blocks. Junior Nicki Meyer had 18 digs, one off her career-high.
Georgia Tech hit .188 on the night and had 12 total blocks. Furman hit .199.
A 4-0 run by Furman in the first set gave the Paladins a 14-10 lead but Tech came with a run to get within a point at 15-14. Furman answered with the next four points to build its largest lead and force a Jacket timeout. The Paladins went on to win the set 25-17 taking advantage of .400 hitting. Tech hit just .103 in the opening set and was led by six kills from Mead.
The second set was all Georgia Tech initially as it built a 10-3 lead to force a Furman timeout. The Yellow Jackets led by as many as nine points in the set before Furman tried to make a late run. The Paladins got as close as four points at 22-18, but Tech went on to win 25-19 and even the match at a set apiece. The Jackets hit .179 in the second set and Furman cooled down to .045. Mead led Tech with five kills.
Tech built a large early lead again in the third set but had to fight off a furious late Furman rally to win 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead for the match. The Yellow Jackets led 10-4 and were up as many as nine points but saw the Paladins get within two at 24-22 before a Mead kill finished the set off. She hit .474 and had 11 kills in the set as Tech opened up the lead in the match.
Tech found itself down 24-21 in the fourth set before running off the next four points to hold match point at 25-24. Furman fought off three straight Tech match points before the Jackets put it away to win the match 3-1.
The Yellow Jackets will now face Clemson tomorrow night in the ACC opener at 7 p.m. Live stats will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
