Oct. 9, 2002
With a 4-1 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the No. 21 Georgia Tech volleyball team (18-3) travels to take on conference rival Clemson (13-7, 4-1 ACC) Friday at 7 p.m. in Jervey Gym in its only match of the week. The Jackets and Tigers stand in a tie for second place in the conference, with each team suffering its only ACC loss at the hands of No. 11 North Carolina.
“It’s always important to us to play well at Clemson,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “Their gym, next to O’Keefe, is the toughest place to play in the conference. This is a big match for us in terms of developing our system and continuity with our lineup. Clemson is a hot team right now and I knew that they were going to be good. They are a team that is dangerous when they are passing well. They have two of the best middles in the conference, and we are going to have to work hard to control the middles in the match.”
Friday’s match marks the 35th meeting between the Yellow Jackets and Clemson, with the Tigers holding the edge, 23-11. Tech defeated the Tigers twice last year during the regular season and has won the last four contests, dating back to the 2000 season.
The Jackets will be playing without their top player, Lynnette Moster (Liberty, Ind.), who suffered a severe ankle sprain in the match against North Carolina last week. Inserted in her place will be freshman Blair Moon (Missouri City, Texas), who recorded a career high 12 kills, 12 digs and five blocks in the Jackets’ win over Florida State.
“I thought that Blair had a good match against Florida State and showed that she was capable of being in our starting lineup,” said Shymansky. “She’s seen action in several matches this year for us and will be ready to go on Friday.”
The Yellow Jackets have been led by Alexandra Preiss (Berlin, Germany) and Kele Eveland (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Preiss currently is ranked third in the conference in hitting percentage (.361) and second in the league in blocks per game (1.19). Eveland leads the ACC in assists per game (13.45) and is third on the team in digs per game (2.49).
“We’ve told our team that we don’t need extra great from everybody else, we just need the same that they’ve been giving, which has been great,” said Shymansky.. “If we focus on what we are doing on our side of the net, I think that we’ll have a great match against Clemson.”
