Nov. 4, 2002
Standing at 9-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the No. 24 Georgia Tech volleyball team (23-5) hosts conference rival Clemson (15-12, 6-6 ACC) in O’Keefe Gym at 7 p.m. Tuesday in its only home match slated this week. The match will be broadcast live on WREK radio (91.1 FM) and can be heard on live audio streaming at www.wrek.org.
The Jackets dropped a tough match to No. 13 North Carolina last week, but bounced back to defeat NC State in three games and currently stand in a three-way tie for second place in the ACC standings with Duke and Florida State.
Earlier in the season, the Jackets defeated the Tigers in Clemson in a five-game match, 30-27, 30-24, 33-35, 19-30, 15-12.
“Clemson plays with a lot of the same personality that we play with,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “They have a lot of pride in their program and have a good tradition with their volleyball program. They are our closest opponent in our conference so there’s been a great rivalry there over the years. We’d love to sweep them this year, but they are a streaky team and when they are hot, they are very tough to stop.”
The Yellow Jackets are led by sophomore Lynnette Moster and Alexandra Preiss. Moster currently stands atop the conference in kills per game (5.28) while leading the team in hitting percentage (.353). Preiss leads the team in blocks per game (1.15) and is second on the team in hitting percentage (.341). However, last week the Jackets received excellent performances from Laura Kuhn and Jayme Gergen. Kuhn matched a career high 14 kills against the Tar Heels and recorded a match high .526 hitting percentage against NC State. In the match against Noth Carolina, Gergen matched her career high with 16 kills and recorded four blocks.
“Laura and Jayme have had some great matches for us recently and it has been real important for us,” said Shymansky. “We have been working hard to speed up our offense and Laura has really benefitted from that, which is exciting to see.
“Jayme has done a fantastic job and has been a silent force for our team this season. I think she still gets little respect from our opponents and she makes them pay for it, which is what she should do.
“The most important thing that we are hoping for this week is a significant improvement in our own game,” continued Shymansky. “This match sets the tone for what we will do the rest of the season in terms of the conference race and also for NCAA tournament seedings. I like where we are in terms of our ability to increase our level of performance. We are playing very well right now, but we want to play great and we have one month in which to do that.”
