Oct. 29, 2009
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech Volleyball team (14-7, 8-3 ACC) returns to the road this weekend for a pair of matches in North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets will play at North Carolina (11-10, 7-3) on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then NC State (7-18, 0-10) Saturday at 6 p.m.
Tech currently sits in third place in the ACC, two matches behind front-runner No. 17 Florida State and a match behind Duke. UNC, meanwhile, has been surging in the last month having won six of its last eight matches. Last month, Georgia Tech beat both NC State and North Carolina by identical 3-0 scores at O’Keefe Gym. Live stats for both matches will be available at www.RamblinWreck.com this weekend.
“As we enter the second half of our conference schedule, it is extremely important that we look to close out the season strong, said head coach Tonya Johnson. “Going on the road in ACC play is never easy and this weekend will be no exception. UNC has been one of the hottest teams in the league since we last saw them and NC State is always a tough match. We played one of our best matches of the season against the Tar Heels last month and will need to repeat that effort this weekend on the road.”
Georgia Tech is now 35-12 all-time against NC State including a 3-0 sweep at home earlier this season. Tech has won 19 straight matches against the Wolfpack and 13 of them have been 3-0 sweeps. NC State’s last win in the series was a 3-2 decision on Oct. 22, 1999 in North Carolina. Freshman Monique Mead (15) and sophomore Bailey Hunter (14) combined for 29 kills against the Wolfpack. Mead hit .571 for the match with her 15 kills and also had seven digs. Hunter, meanwhile, had 14 kills on a .320 hitting percentage. Sophomore Asia Stawicka added six kills and hit .600 for Tech, whole senior Brittany Roderick chipped in with seven kills. Juniors Mary Ashley Tippins and Jordan McCullers as well as freshman Hannah Tucci each added six digs for Tech and Tippins also dished out a match-high 40 assists. The Jackets hit .400 for the match, while holding NC State to .190.
Against North Carolina, the Yellow Jackets are 22-28 all-time including the sweep at O’Keefe in September. Hunter and senior Chrissy DeMichelis led the Yellow Jackets with 13 kills apiece against the Tar Heels. Hunter hit a season-high .619 for the match to go with her 13 kills. DeMichelis, meanwhile, finished with four blocks including three solo. Freshman Monique Mead added 10 kills and five digs for the Jackets. Junior Jordan McCullers led the Jackets on defense with 19 of the teams’ season-high 55 digs (in three sets). Freshman Hannah Tucci finished with a career-high 10 digs. The Jackets hit .321 for the match, while holding North Carolina to .177.
