Sept. 30, 2006
ATLANTA – Ciara Michel had 18 kills and hit .379 to lead Miami (5-9, 2-3 ACC) to a 3-1 victory over Georgia Tech (8-6, 0-4 ACC) Saturday evening at O’Keefe Gymnasium.
Sophomore Talisa Kellogg paced the Jackets with 18 kills on the night, while junior Ulrike Stegemann added 17. Senior libero Abby Showers led Tech’s defensive efforts with 20 digs, which ties a career high set against Toledo at the beginning of the month, while junior Lindsey Gray added 13 digs for the Yellow Jackets.
The Jackets had 20 blocks on the night, led by Callie Miller, who had 10, and Nikki Kaminskas, who recorded eight in just two games. The offense was run by sophomore setter Allie Niekamp, who recorded 45 assists and a team-high three service aces on the night.
Trailing 3-4 in game one, the Jackets went on a 12-2 run to take a 15-6 lead and held on for a 30-27 win behind the strong play of Miller, who recorded six of her 10 blocks in the frame. The Hurricanes responded quickly in the second game, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the frame before cruising to a 30-21 win, tying the match at 1-1.
In game three, Michel hit .417, recording eight kills on 12 attempts, and the Hurricane defense recorded 18 digs to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 30-27 win.
The fourth game proved to be back-and-forth, with both teams going on extended runs to the end. With Tech trailing by one point, the Jackets tied the game at 26-26 on a block by Kaminskas and Stegemann and then received a kill from Stegemann and a service ace from Gray to take a 28-26 lead. Miami responded by winning the final four points however, with a kill by Ashley Woods and a block by Lauren Rinderknecht and Francheska Savage before Miami received match point with a wide attack attempt from Kellogg.
The loss drops the Jackets to 0-4 in the conference for the first time since the 1990 season and is the fourth time in school history that the Jackets have lost four-straight matches to ACC opponents.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action next weekend when they travel to Maryland and Boston College in two more conference matches. The Jackets and Terps will square off Friday night at 7 p.m., while Tech’s match at Boston College begins at 1 p.m. Sunday.
