Nov. 17, 2004
After posting a perfect 16-0 record in Atlantic Coast Conference action this season, the Georgia Tech volleyball team heads to Charlottesville, Va., to compete in the 25th annual ACC Championship Thursday through Sunday at Memorial Gym on the campus of the University of Virginia.
The Jackets (23-5, 16-0 ACC) enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed and play the winner of Thursday’s match between the Clemson and Virginia Tech match on Friday at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals.
The tournament begins Thursday with eighth seeded Virginia Tech (13-15, 7-9 ACC) facing ninth seeded Clemson (18-13, 7-9 ACC) at 2:30 p.m. In Thursday’s other first round action, No. 7 seed Maryland (12-14, 7-9 ACC) will take on No. 10 Wake Forest (12-15, 4-12 ACC) at 5 p.m. followed by a matchup between No. 6 seed Virginia (18-10, 8-8 ACC) and NC State (10-20, 0-16 ACC). In Friday’s other quarterfinal action, No. 4 seed Florida State (18-10, 9-7 ACC) will take on No. 5 North Carolina (16-14, 9-7 ACC) at 1:30 p.m.., No. 2 seed Miami (16-8, 11-5 ACC) will take on the winner of the Terrapin and Demon Deacons match and No. 3 seed Duke (19-9, 10-6 ACC) faces the winner of the Virginia and NC State contest at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s action includes a 1:30 semifinal match featuring the winners of the matches on Friday morning. Should the Jackets win, they will advance to play the winner of Friday’s Florida State-North Carolina matchup at 1:30 p.m. The championship will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m. and will be televised live on Fox Sports Net South.
Each Georgia Tech match will be broadcast live on WREK radio (91.1 FM) and can also be heard in streaming audio over the Internet at www.wrek.org. In addition, livestats will be available for every match in the tournament at www.theacc.com.
The Jackets have an all-time record a 15-25 record in the ACC Tournament. However, since 1991, Tech has a 15-11 record, including its only tournament titles in 2002 and 1995.
During the regular season, Tech won both matches against the Tigers and the Hokies.
“Beating any team for second time in a season is extremely difficult, and it will be even more difficult this year because it’s been over a month since we’ve faced these two teams,” said head coach Bond Shymansky, who has led the Yellow Jackets to the ACC Finals in the two year’s he’s been head coach. “We are trying desperately to stay focused on what is right in front of us, which is the winner of Thursday’s match, and I can guarantee that either team will play us tougher than they did during the regular season.”
“We’ve had a great ACC season this year, but winning the tournament means a great deal to our players and staff. The top seed has not fared well in the ACC Tournament over the past seven years and we will need to maintain a high level of focus and determination if we expect to be successful this weekend,” said Shymansky.
