Oct. 13, 2006
ATLANTA – Talisa Kellogg recorded a match-high 15 kills and Lindsey Gray posted her team-leading seventh double-double of the season to lead Georgia Tech (9-8, 1-6 ACC) to a 3-0 (30-15, 30-27, 30-28) victory over North Carolina (4-13, 2-6 ACC) Friday night at O’Keefe Gymnasium. With the win, the Yellow Jackets snapped a six-match losing skid, which began with the first Atlantic Coast Conference match of the season at Wake Forest on Oct. 22.
“This was a big win for us tonight for many obvious reason,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bond Shymansky. “Our team knows that we are capable of performing like this, and even better, every night. Our passing and defense was consistent and gritty, which allowed us to stay in long rallies, which eventually helped us to wear down North Carolina. We are confident that we have put one streak to rest and have started a new streak, and our team is hungry to get even better.”
Kellogg posted a .317 hitting percentage while helping the Yellow Jackets hit .317 as a team, while the Tar Heels hit just .174 in the match. Gray had a match-high 18 digs in the match while recording 13 kills, three service aces and three blocks in her third-consecutive double-double, while senior libero Abby Showers added 17 digs for the Yellow Jackets.
Junior Nikki Kaminskas led the Jackets’ blocking efforts with a total of six blocks on the night, while the Jackets as a team had eight blocks.
Also recording her third-straight double-double was sophomore setter Allie Niekamp, who racked up 43 assists, 11 digs, five kills and two blocks while hitting .417 on the night, while junior Ulrike Stegemann finished third on the team with 10 kills against the Tar Heels.
UNC was led by Noelle Dyk and Amy Beaver, who recorded 11 kills apiece.
Tech started hot in game one, going on a 6-0 run after UNC tied the match at 4-4 early-on, and after Lauren Prussing recorded a kill to pull the Tar Heels to within 10-5, the Yellow Jackets won six of the next seven points to take control of the game. Tech finished off by winning six of the final seven points, winning 30-15.
Trailing 14-12 in game two, the Jackets went on a 9-1 run, which included kills by Kellogg, Kaminskas and Gray, as well as a block by Kaminskas and Niekamp, to take a 21-15 lead. After UNC pulled within four points late in the frame, the Jackets went to Kellogg for a pair of kills, which made the score 29-24, and earned game point on an attack error by Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland.
The third game proved to be a back-and-forth affair, with 15 ties and two lead changes. The Jackets led early, taking a 10-6 lead on a kill by Gray, but the Tar Heels pulled to 11-11 for the first tie of the frame. The score was still tied at 27-27 when Kellogg recorded a kill off a set by Niekamp, but the Heels again tied the game with a kill by Dyk to make the score 28-28. The Jackets then finished off the match with kills by Birmingham and Kaminskas.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Saturday night when they host NC State at 7 p.m. The game can be found on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) and on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta and online at www.wrek.org. Livestats for the match will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
