Nov. 29, 2003
Alexandra Preiss recorded 17 kills, hit .419 and notched four block assists as the No. 9 Georgia Tech volleyball team defeated San Jose State in three games, 30-19, 31-19, 30-26. With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 31-3 while the Spartans fall to 10-20 on the year.
“After a tough loss last night, tonight was an important rebounding night for us as we try to regain our drive and focus heading into the NCAA Tournament,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “When you win as much as our team has this season it’s tough to handle losing, so it was good to see us bounce back so quickly. We are all anxious to watch the selection show tomorrow and set our sights on great achievement in the tournament.”
Tech’s offense was the story of the match as Tech hit .363 as a team. In addition to Preiss, Lynnette Moster posted 12 kills and hit .423, Laura Kuhn recorded 13 kills and hit .391, Lauren Sauer had 12 kills and hit .222 and Jayme Gergen had six kills and hit .455.
At the net, the Jackets were just as dominating, recording 13 total blocks. Gergen led the way with 7 total blocks while Eveland and Sauer each had four and Kuhn had three. Defensively, Tech outdug the Spartans 52 to 39 with Moster tallying a match high 13 digs, Aston following with 11 and Jennifer Randall recording eight.
San Jose State was led by Kimberly Noble who had 17 kills and Carrie Nash who had 12 digs.
The Jackets opened the game on a tear, building a 12-6 lead on two kills from Preiss and a solo block from Sauer. San Jose State closed it to 16-13 on a kill from Kimberly Noble, but it was as close as the Spartans got in the game. The Jackets built a commanding 26-16 lead on three kills from Preiss and went on to win the game, 30-19. In the game, Preiss connected for 7 kills and hit .778 while Moster recorded five kills and hit .571. Tech hit .500 in the game and held the Spartans to a .081 percentage.
Game two was much closer, with Tech falling behind 13-16 on a service error from Moster. Tech rebounded with two kills from Sauer and a stuff block from Sauer and Gergen to tie the game at 16-16. The Jackets then built a 21-17 lead on a stuff block from Eveland and Preiss, but the Spartans closed the game to 27-25 on a kill from Carrie Nash. With the Jackets leading 28-26, San Jose State scored three points on a hitting error from Sauer, and kills from Nash and Noble. Gergen hit a kill down the middle to knot the game at 29-29 and then behind the serving of Gergen, Eveland and Preiss recorded two stuff blocks to give the Jackets the game, 31-29.
The third game was tied at 16-16 before a kill from Sauer and a hitting error by San Jose State and an ace serve from Gergen gave Tech a 19-16 lead. The Jackets built a 24-17 lead on two kills from Preiss and a solo block from Moster and continued to play well, scoring the match’s final point on a cross court kill from Sauer to win, 30-26.
The Yellow Jackets will now await the announcement of the 2003 NCAA Tournament which will be released Sunday at 8 p.m. and posted on www.ncaachampionships.org.
