Nov. 3, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Talisa Kellogg posted 20 kills and Ulrike Stegemann added 19 kills while hitting .424 to lead Georgia Tech (14-10, 6-8 ACC) to an exciting 3-2 (18-30, 30-23, 30-16, 30-32, 18-16) victory over Miami (9-15, 6-9 ACC) Friday at the Knight Sports Complex on the campus of the University of Miami.
With the match tied at 16-16, Kellogg recorded her 20th kill of the match before sophomore setter Allie Niekamp posted her sixth kill on the afternoon to give the Yellow Jackets their third-straight match victory.
“We started off very slow this afternoon, but our team quickly realized that Miami was good enough to make us pay,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bond Shymansky. “Our offense was extremely efficient when we passed well, but we had to battle several lulls in focus that cost us key points.”
“Ulli was really devastating as an attacker and Talisa also provided a lot of firepower for us.”
Junior Lindsey Gray continued her strong overall play, recording her third-consecutive double-double, and 10th of the season, with 16 kills and 10 digs against the Hurricanes. The outside hitter also recorded three assists and three blocks on the day.
Joining Kellogg, Stegemann and Gray in double-figures in kills was sophomore middle hitter Callie Miller, who had 11 kills, four blocks and one assist.
Niekamp ran the Georgia Tech offense with 57 assists on the afternoon, while senior libero Abby Showers anchored the Jackets’ defensive efforts with 14 digs on the night.
The win against the Hurricanes marks the fourth five-set match that the Yellow Jackets have won this season, and second in the last three matches.
Miami started the match with a 4-0 run and finished on a 7-1 run to take the first game, 30-18. The Hurricanes hit .333 in the game and were led by Elescia McGee, who had five kills on six attack attempts (.833), while the Jackets struggled with their offense, hitting (-.111).
The Yellow Jackets responded with a strong game two, hitting .564 while receiving at least three kills from five different players. With Miami leading 14-13, Tech used a 6-1 run to take control of the game and didn’t let the Hurricanes pull any closer, winning 30-23. Tech was led by Kellogg, who had seven kills on 11 attempts (.636), and Gray, who hit .500 while recording five kills. Francheska Savage paced the Hurricanes, who hit .433 in the game, with five kills on six attack attempts (.833).
Tech maintained its offensive pressure in the third game, winning five of the first six points before taking an early 10-4 lead. The Yellow Jackets finished off the game by winning eight of the final 10 points to win, 30-16, taking a 2-1 lead in the match. Led by Kellogg’s six kills while Gray added five, Tech hit .500 in the game while Miami hit just .069.
After falling behind 13-8 in game four, the Jackets gradually made a comeback, eventually tying the game in the middle of a 7-1 run at 21-21. With Tech leading 22-21, Miami responded by earning five of the next eight points, and finished by winning, 32-30 to tied the match at 2-2.
The Hurricanes took an early 6-2 lead in the final game, but the Jackets battled back, eventually tying the game at 12-12. The two teams then went back-and-forth three times before the Jackets gained the edge off a service ace by Stegemann to make the score 15-14.
“I was extremely proud of how we battled back from the big deficit in game five,” added Shymansky. “Our team is truly believing that we can compete at the highest level and succeed.”
The Yellow Jackets will continue on to Tallahassee to face Florida State Sunday at 1 p.m. Livestats for the match will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com while live video can be found on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv).
