Oct. 23, 2003
After nearly two weeks on the road, the fourth-ranked Georgia Tech volleyball team (20-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) returns to the cozy confines of O’Keefe Gymnasium to host two ACC matches this weekend against North Carolina (15-7, 6-2 ACC) and NC State (7-16, 0-8 ACC).
“Our team is very excited to play at home this weekend against North Carolina and NC State and to a part of all the great events going on this weekend on campus,” said head coach Bond Shymansky.
Friday at 7 p.m., the Yellow Jackets will face the Tar Heels in a match that will be regionally televised by Fox Sports Net South on Nov. 2 at 3:30 p.m. Several exciting promotions are scheduled, including t-shirts to the first 500 fans, “Point Tech” cards to the first 1,000 fans and the opportunity to win two tickets to the sold-out Georgia Tech/Georgia football game on Nov. 29. In addition, fans may tune into the match on WREK radio (91.1 FM) or follow livestats on www.ramblinwreck.com.
The Tar Heels lead the all-time series between the two schools, 25-13 but in the last seven meetings, they hold a slim 4-3 advantage. In those seven contests, five have gone to the fifth and final game. The two teams met earlier this season in Chapel Hill, NC, with the Jackets winning in a three-game match, 30-19, 30-16, 30-22. In that match, four Yellow Jackets finished with double-figure kills, with Lynnette Moster leading the way with 12 kills and hitting .428.
“Our team was very pleased with our performance at North Carolina earlier this season and we want to try and put forth that same type of effort and execution on our court in front of our fans,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “I think the key to the match will be to contain Molly Pyles and to work on getting better production out of players like Laura Kuhn and Lynnette Moster.” We’ve been working really hard at passing, passing, and more passing and that’s the biggest key for us. If we come in and pass well, we will be able to run our offense at a high level and be successful.”
On Saturday, Tech will return to action and face NC State. Fans attending the match are encouraged to take part in a “Best Costume Contest” for a chance to win an exciting Georgia Tech prize pack. In their previous meeting, the Jackets defeated the Wolfpack in three games, 30-149, 30-18, 30-27. Alexandra Preiss led Tech that night, recording 14 kills and hitting .400. The Wolfpack and the Jackets have met 34 times with Tech holding the edge, 23-11. The last time NC State defeated Tech was during the 1999 season.
“NC State has an athletic team and they are definitely a much improved team this year,” said Shymansky. “They are getting very good ball control and when they are in system with their offense, they are hard to stop. It’s always tough when you play back to back nights because there are a lot of things that can impact the match and they are certainly a good enough team to pose us problems if we aren’t focused.”
“This week in practice, we’ve been working really hard at passing, passing, and more passing and that’s the biggest key for us. If we come in and pass well, we will be able to run our offense at a high level and be successful.”
