Sept. 9, 2004
Still in search of its first victory of the season, the 21st ranked Georgia Tech volleyball team begins its home season at the Renaissance Hotel/Georgia Tech Invitational.this weekend in O’Keefe Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets will face Xavier (1-3) Friday at 7 p.m., Tennessee Tech Saturday at 6 p.m., and Ohio State (4-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tech opens the tournament against Xavier, the alma mater of current assistant coach Sally Schulte. The match marks the first contest between the two teams and the first 200 fans to the contest will receive a free t-shirt, courtesy of the Georgia Tech volleyball team. In addition, free pizza will be given to the first 200 Georgia Tech students with their Buzz Card.
“We’re really looking forward to playing Xavier at home for our first home match this year,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “It should be fun for assistant coach Sally Schulte to have a shot at coaching against her alma mater and our team has worked hard all week to help us get our first win. Xavier has some good senior leadership in their setter and their outside hitters will provide a good test for our team.”
On Saturday, the Jackets will face Tennessee Tech at 6 p.m. The two teams have faced one another nine times in school history, with the Golden Eagles holding a 6-3 edge in the series. The last time the two teams met was in 1994, a match which the Jackets won, 3-1.
The Jackets’ will face Ohio State in the final match of the tournament on Sunday afternoon in a match that will be regionally televised by Fox Sports Net South on a tape delay basis. Several exciting promotions are scheduled, including the opportunity to win a prize pack courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletics to the fan who creates the best poster.
“Ohio State is a great challenge for us at this point in the season and we love playing against teams from the Big Ten. They are a great measuring stick for us to find out how we really stand as a team,” said Shymansky. “Their senior outside hitter and three-time all-American Stacey Gordon is a very impressive player and they have a good young core of players around them. We’re really counting on our home crowd and home court advantage to be a big boost for us in this match.”
To date, Tech has been led by a couple of players including Lynnette Moster, who leads the team in kills per game (4.75), Jayme Gergen, who leads the team in hitting percentage (.362) and Marisa Aston, who leads the team in digs per game (4.75). In addition, Lindsey Laband is leading the team and the Atlantic Coast Conference in assists per game (13.62).
“Playing at home is going to generate a lot of excitement and enthusiasm for our team and the support that we get from our home crowd is really valuable to us, especially right now this early in the season,” said Shymansky. “We’re a team that likes to win and is used to winning so we need to find out ways to bounce back and we’re counting on the crowd in O’Keefe to help us do that.”
All three Georgia Tech matches can be heard on WREK radio on 91.1 FM and in streaming audio over the internet at www.wrek.org. In addition, fans may watch live stats of the matches by logging onto www.ramblinwreck.com
Renaissance Hotel/Georgia Tech Invitational ScheduleFriday, Sept. 10Xavier vs. Tennessee Tech 2 p.m.Xavier vs. Georgia Tech 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 11 Xavier vs. Ohio State 2 p.m. Tennessee Tech vs. Georgia Tech 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 12 Ohio State vs. Georgia Tech 2 p.m.
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