Nov. 25, 2006
ATLANTA – Katie Oakes registered a team-high 14 kills to lead Virginia (23-8, 16-6 ACC) to a 3-0 (31-29, 30-26, 30-27) victory over Georgia Tech (20-12, 12-10 ACC) in the final regular season match of 2006 at O’Keefe Gymnasium Saturday night.
Talisa Kellogg pounded out a match-high 15 kills while senior libero Abby Showers posted a team-high 13 digs to lead the Yellow Jackets on the night. Lindsey Gray also recorded her sixth-consecutive double-double, with 12 kills and 10 digs against the Cavaliers, while sophomore setter Allie Niekamp’s 32 assists and 11 digs was her 11th double-double of the season .
Virginia closed out the first game on an 8-3 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match, 31-29. After the Jackets took a 29-28 lead on a kill by Lindsey Gray, the Cavaliers earned the one-point edge on back-to-back kills by Lindsey Osco and Sarah Kirkwood before a block by Kirkwood and Shannon Davis gave Virginia match point. The Cavaliers hit .479 in the game, led by Oaks, Kirkwood and Lauren Dickson, who combined for 19 kills.
With a 15-14 lead halfway through the second game, Virginia used a 5-0 run to take control and then held off two late Georgia Tech rallies to win 30-26. Trailing 26-19, the Jackets rattled off five-straight points, which included three kills by Talisa Kellogg, but it wasn’t enough as Virginia capitalized on serving, blocking and attack errors by the Jackets to take the 2-0 lead in the match.
After Georgia Tech took a 21-17 lead in game three, Virginia used a 5-0 lead to take a one-point lead and, after Tech took the lead back at 25-23, finished off the match on a 7-2 run to win 30-27.
Kellogg led Tech’s blocking efforts against the Cavaliers, with three solo blocks and three block assists, while middle hitter Nikki Kaminskas added four block assists. Ulrike Stegemann hit a match-high .571, posting nine kills, while Niekamp hit .455 with six kills on the evening.
