Aug. 12, 2008
Video: Season Preview
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech volleyball fans can catch their first glimpse of the team in action this Saturday when the team holds an open scrimmage from 2-4 p.m., to be followed by its annual Fan Photo Day, where visitors can take photos with the players and coaches and get autographs and other small giveaways.
The Yellow Jackets are returning eight letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2007 squad that finished 22-10 and are looking to improve upon their 16-6 conference record behind the senior leadership of Talisa Kellogg, Callie Miller, Allie Niekamp, Michelle Kandell and Stephanie Robbins.
Kellogg received AVCA Honorable Mention All-America accolades in 2007 after being named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team. She ended the year with 499 kills and is currently on pace to set the school record for kills in a career in this, her final season.
Miller is Tech’s top returnee in the middle of the court, and the senior ranks among the top-10 in school history in total blocks, block assists and blocks per game. Niekamp has been the Jackets’ starting setter each of the last two seasons and enters her final year on the Flats with 2,700 career assists, which stands sixth in the school record books.
Kandell will anchor the Georgia Tech defense as the starting libero after shattering the school record for digs in 2007 with 628. She ranks fifth in school history with 3.00 digs per game and averaged 4.87 digs per game in 2007, her first season as the starting libero. Robbins, the Jackets’ two-time Iron Jacket, enters her senior season vying for more playing time and brings a combination of leadership and experience that few others can provide.
Tech has four other returnees – juniors Brittany Roderick and Chrissy DeMichelis and sophomores Mary Ashley Tippins and Jordan McCullers – and adds four newcomers to the mix this season.
This weekend’s scrimmage is free to the public.
