ATLANTA (Sept. 27) – After capturing its first Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Wake Forest last week, Georgia Tech’s volleyball team continues conference play, tarveling to Duke on Tuesday (7 p.m.) and hosting 12th-ranked Clemson Friday night at 7 p.m. in O’Keefe Gym.
The Jackets begin the week 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the ACC while Duke is 5-5 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, while Clemson boasts a perfect 12-0 mark, pending a Tuesday night match of their own against South Carolina.
The Tigers are off to the best start in school history, having defeated three nationally-ranked teams while dropping only two games all season. Clemson’s national ranking is the school’s best ever.
“Clemson has represented the ACC well by beating several nationally ranked teams, which is great for our league,” said Tech head coach Shelton Colllier. “Because of this, a win over Clemson is even more valuable to us.”
Georgia Tech continues to be led by a trio of sophomores in Maja Pachale (Schwerin, Germany), Kyleen Bell (Rocklin, Calif.) and Anna Nedderman (Grapevine, Texas). Pachale leads the team in kills (200) and service aces (31) while Bell leads the team in hitting percentage (.315) and is second in block assists (45 ), and Nedderman leads the team in blocks per game (1.88).
As a team, the Yellow Jackets are currently ranked 10th nationally in blocks per game (3.41) and 16th in the country in service aces per game (2.33). Individually, Pachale is ranked 19th in service aces (.66) and Nedderman is ranked third in blocks per game.
Friday’s match with Clemson will be the Yellow Jackets’ first home appearance in six matches, and the match will be televised on tape-delayed basis on October 6 at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Net South, something which Collier feels is important.
“Clemson is playing the best of any team in the ACC, perhaps better than any team ever in the history of ACC volleyball,” Collier said. “We always play really well in O’Keefe and particularly well in our T.V. games, so this is an exciting opportunity for us.”
