Nov. 19, 2011
ATLANTA – Despite three attackers notching double digit kills, the Georgia Tech volleyball team fell in four (20-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-25) to No. 21 Florida State in front of a sold out crowd of 1,306 at O’Keefe Gymnasium, Saturday.
Tech (15-15, 8-11 ACC) was led by Monique Mead who tallied 15 kills on the night. Following right behind her was Alexis Woodson with 14 kills and a .591 hitting percentage and Jennifer Percy with 11 kills.
Kaleigh Colson dished out 44 assists on the night, the second-straight game she has hit the 40-assists plateau, also tallying nine digs, four kills on seven attempts and three service aces.
The Seminoles (24-5, 18-1) were led by Jekaterina Stepanova who had a game high 18 kills as well as eight digs. Sareea Freeman had seven blocks for FSU, who combined for 12 team blocks on the night.
Tech and Florida State battled it out in the first set with Tech jumping out to an early four point lead behind the energy of the crowd. Florida State fought back and evened things up at seven-all, later taking a 12-9 lead and holding an edge that the Yellow Jackets just couldn’t chip away at eventually earning the 25-20 victory. Percy had six kills in the first set alone for the Jackets, making the most of her 12 attempts.
The Jackets bounced back in set two and earned a solid 25-17 victory. After falling behind early, the Jackets fought back and took a 12-9 lead of their own behind the serving of Kaleigh Colson. FSU snuck their way back in but with Nicki Meyer on the service stripe Tech went on a 6-0 run to break open the game (22-15) and hung on for the victory ending the game with a flourish behind a Percy kill and a Ivona Kolak block. Quinn Evans led the way among Tech attackers with four kills in the second set, missing on just one attempt, while five other Tech hitters notched multiple kills in the set win.
The Jackets fell in set three by a 25-20 score. Florida State gained an early edge and barely held on after a tough comeback in the middle of the game by Tech. Down 22-18, the Jackets brought it within two, but Florida State finished with a three-point run to take home the set victory and the 2-1 advantage. Monique Mead rallied off five kills in the set for the Jackets in the loss.
Set four was the closest of the night as the two teams went back-and-forth for the first half of the game. Florida State used a 7-2 run to open things up at 22-13 where they would hold on to clinch the fourth set, 25-15 and earn their 18th ACC victory of the year.
The Jackets will return to action with their final game of the regular season on Wednesday, November 23 at 6:30 p.m. at O’Keefe Gymnasium. Tech will honor its lone senior Asia Stawicka prior to the game against their closets foe, Clemson.
