Oct. 16, 2006
ATLANTA – Riding a two-match winning streak, Georgia Tech (10-8, 2-6 ACC) will hit the road for a mid-week match at Clemson (12-4, 7-1 ACC) this Tuesday at 7 p.m. The match will be played at Jervey Gym on the campus of Clemson University with live video available on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) and livestats available at www.ramblinwreck.com. Fans may also listen to the game on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta and online at www.wrek.org.
“Our team is definitely rejuvenated after a great home weekend,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bond Shymansky. “Now we need to carry that momentum with us over to our biggest rival, Clemson. We continue to be confident and positive about our team’s capabilities. This is a tough stretch with five matches in eight days, but our team is hungry to reverse our position in the ACC.”
The Yellow Jackets and Tigers are both coming off a weekend where they recorded 3-0 sweeps of North Carolina and N.C. State.
Georgia Tech is 18-24 against the Tigers, but hold a 7-1 record against them since Shymansky took over the program in 2002. The Yellow Jackets have also earned eight of their 18 wins in the series at Jervey Gym.
Junior Ulrike Stegemann and sophomore Talisa Kellogg are leading the Yellow Jacket offense in 2006, as Stegemann is pacing the team with a .334 hitting percentage while averaging 2.94 kills per game while Kellogg is recording a team-best 3.49 kills per game this season.
Sophomore setter Allie Niekamp has been running the Georgia Tech offense this season, averaging 11.67 assists and 2.25 digs per game, while outside hitter Lindsey Gray has been on fire of late, posting 2.38 kills, 2.65 digs, 0.60 assists, 0.47 service aces and 0.31 blocks per game in her junior season.
The Yellow Jacket defense is anchored by senior libero Abby Showers (3.67 dpg) and sophomore defensive specialist Michelle Kandell (2.13 dpg), while rookie Erin Birmingham (1.05 bpg), junior Callie Miller (1.00 bpg/2.20 kpg) and junior Nikki Kaminskas (1.10 bpg) post a strong front line for Tech.
Following the contest at Clemson, the Jackets will return to Atlanta to prepare for a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference matches at Virginia and Virginia Tech this weekend.
