Oct. 1, 2011
ATLANTA – Led by Emily McGee who notched a game-high 17 kills, North Carolina swept the Georgia Tech volleyball team 3-0 in front of a home crowd at O’Keefe Gymnasium on Saturday night. The Tar Heels (12-3 overall, 4-0 ACC) remained perfect in ACC play with the victory while the Yellow Jackets fell to 8-7 on the year and 1-3 in conference play.
Tech was led by senior Asia Stawicka who had a team-high 11 kills on 17 attempts for a .647 hitting percentage. The middle blocker also added four blocks to her total. Monique Mead was next on the team with 10 kills but it wasn’t enough for the Jackets.
“I am disappointed in the team’s performance tonight,” said Head Coach Tonya Johnson. “This is not who we are and we have a lot of work to do on Monday when we return to the gym. People have to step up for us and play better starting next weekend. That is just the bottom line.”
A back-and-forth first set went in favor of North Carolina as the Tar Heels needed extra points to earn the victory (28-26). Each team had multiple opportunities to take the set but a block by Cora Harms and Cameron Von Noy on a Jennifer Percy attack gave UNC a 1-0 advantage. McGee led all players tallying eight of her 17 kills in the set for a .545 hitting percentage, with back-to-back kills to help the Tar Heels to the early lead. Stawicka chipped in four kills for the Jackets also adding a block.
The second set started off in favor of the Tar Heels as Chaniel Nelson netted a couple of early blocks to set the tone. Though back-and-forth for much of the match, Kaylie Gibson rallied off seven straight points behind the service line to bring the UNC lead from 12-11 to 19-11. Nelson notched three blocks to go along with three kills in the second, while Stawicka added another four kills to her total and Monique Mead did the same.
The Jackets shook some things up in the lineup in the third set substituting Kaileigh Colson in as the setter and Alexis Woodson in at middle blocker for Quinn Evans. The Jackets used the change to their benefit leading the majority of set three but a late surge by North Carolina gave the Tar Heels the third set win and the victory.
McGee recorded a double-double on the night with her 17 kills and 14 digs to lead all Tar Heels.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action at O’Keefe on Friday night in the first part of a two-game weekend series where they will take on Maryland at 7 p.m. Live video and audio for every Georgia Tech home match is available at RamblinWreck.com through the All-Access channel. Each home match is also broadcast on WREK, 91.1 FM in Atlanta.
