Nov. 5, 2006
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Callie Miller, Talisa Kellogg and Lindsey Gray each had 13 kills and Ulrike Stegemann added 10 and hit .444 to lead Georgia Tech (15-10, 7-8 ACC) to a 3-1 (27-30, 30-26, 30-25, 30-26) victory over Florida State (16-9, 10-6 ACC) Sunday afternoon at the Lucy McDaniel Court on the campus of Florida State.
The Yellow Jackets have now won seven of their last nine matches after beginning conference play 0-6.
“We had a great balanced attack today when we were in system, and got a strong contribution from all of our hitters,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bond Shymansky. “Abby (Showers) also made a big difference for us with defensive hustle and strong passing, and we had a lot of success with our backside sets while getting crucial kills from our outside hitters that bailed us out of some tough spots.
“It was a great weekend, with two wins on the road, and it is something that we’ve been working towards all season. Now we need to put our nose to the grindstone, working hard to finish our last roadtrip with equal success.”
Showers recorded a match-high 16 digs against the Seminoles, while Gray added 10 for her 11th double-double of the season. She has now recorded double-doubles in each of the last four matches for the Yellow Jackets.
The Jackets’ serving harassed the `Noles on the afternoon, as Tech recorded a season-best 16 service aces, breaking their previous high of 11 which was set against Stetson earlier this year.
Georgia Tech’s blocking defense was led by Nikki Kaminskas and Allie Niekamp, who both had four block assists, while Stegemann added three blocks against the Seminoles.
The Jackets used an 8-0 run early in the first game to take a 13-5 lead, but it wasn’t enough for the match lead as the Seminoles mounted a late rally to win the game, 30-27. Trailing 13-20, Florida State used a 5-0 run to pull within two points at 20-18. After the Jackets extended the lead to four on a kill by Kellogg and a ball handling error, the Seminoles used an 11-2 run, which included four service aces by the Seminoles, to take a 29-24 lead, and held off the Yellow Jacket comeback for the three-point win.
Tech took the first three points in the second game and led the entire time to even the match at 1-1 with a 30-26 win. Florida State would pull within one point on two occasions, with the final coming at 27-26, but the Jackets concluded the game with three-straight points on a pair of kills by Miller and Gray and an attack error by the Seminoles’ Malorie Wessel on match point.
Trailing 13-12 in game three, the Yellow Jackets used an 8-0 run, which included three kills by Gray and two by both Miller and Stegemann, to take over, 20-13. The Seminoles would pull within three points at 22-19 and again at 23-20, but would get no closer, as Tech then rattled off four straight points and cruised to a 30-25 win. The Jackets hit .448, and were led by Callie Miller, who hit .500 and had six kills in the game.
The Yellow Jackets fell behind 5-4 in game four, but used a 5-0 run, which included three service aces by Stegemann, to take a 9-5 lead. Tech held on to the lead, despite two separate runs by the Seminoles, winning 30-26.
The Seminoles were led by Brianna Barry, who had 16 kills while hitting .556, while Makini Thompson and Wessel added 15 and 14 kills, respectively.
The Yellow Jackets will conclude the road portion of their schedule next weekend with a pair of matches at N.C. State and North Carolina. Following those two matches, Tech will return home for five-straight home matches to close out the regular season.
