Oct. 15, 2002
Despite a career high 26 digs from Keight Vincent and a career high eight block assists from Jayme Gergen, the No. 20 Georgia Tech volleyball team fell to Duke, 30-23, 20-30, 30-27, 22-30, 9-15. With the win, the Blue Devils improve to 16-6, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference while the Jackets fall to 19-4, 5-2 ACC.
In game one, the Blue Devils jumped out to an early 8-3 lead on several hitting errors by the Jackets. Tech regrouped and slowly chipped away at the deficit on key stuff blocks from Gergen and Sauer. With the Jackets trailing 13-14, Keight Vincent served four straight points, giving Tech a 17-14 lead and forcing Duke into a timeout. Duke came back to make the score 18-19 on a kill from Dill, but a Blue Devil service error made the score 19-17. The Jackets then responded with a service ace from Preiss taking a 20-17 lead. Tech went on to win the game 30-23 on a tip kill from Blair Moon. In the game, Sauer led the Jackets with six kills while Gergen recorded three stuff blocks and Vincent notched seven digs.
Game two started off close, with neither team holding more than a one point lead until Duke took a 6-9 lead on a hitting error from Laura Kuhn and a reception error from Marisa Aston. The Jackets tied the game at 9-9 on a block from Gergen and Moon, but that was as close as Tech would get in the game. The Blue Devils went on a 21-11 run and capitalized on several unforced errors by the Jackets to win the game, 30-20. In the game, the Jackets hit -.096, their worst percentage in a game this season. Defensively, Eveland recorded 10 digs and Vincent notched seven while Gergen tallied three block assists.
The Jackets regrouped and played much better in game three, taking an early 7-5 lead on a kill from Preiss. With the score 18-18, Sauer recorded two kills and a solo block and forced the Blue Devils into a timeout trailing 18-21. The Blue Devils fought back to make the score 23-25. A kill from Sauer and a hitting error from Sarah Salem gave Tech a 28-24 lead and the Jackets went on to win the game 30-27 on a kill from Gergen. In the game, Preiss tallied seven kills while Vincent added seven digs and Eveland notched 17 assists.
Tech began game four much like they did in game two, with many unforced errors. With the score 6-8, the Jackets climbed to within one on a kill from Preiss, but an immediate service error from Preiss gave the Blue Devils a 9-7 lead. That was as close as the Jackets would get as Tech continued to record unforced hitting errors and Duke’s offense and defense picked up. Duke won the final point on a service ace from Istvan and took the game 30-22.
Game five was tied at 4-4 before the Blue Devils scored five consecutive points on four kills and a hitting error from Preiss to take a 9-4 lead. It was all that Duke would need as they continued to play strong defense and served tough. The Blue Devils scored the final point of the match on a kill from Katie Gillman to win the deciding game, 15-9.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday when they travel to Winston-Salem, NC to take on Wake Forest at 6 p.m.
