Aug. 28, 2010
ATLANTA – Junior Bailey Hunter and sophomore Monique Mead each recorded double-figure kills as the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (2-1) swept UAB (1-2), 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 24-14), Saturday night in the final match of the Courtyard Marriott Classic at O’Keefe Gym in front of 1,037 fans.
“You learn a lot about your team playing two matches in a day and I was pleased with how we responded,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “We did a great job of taking control early and finishing the match. It was a challenging weekend, but we bounced back nicely and now get set to play three straight weekends on the road. We’ll have a good week of practice and get ready to go out to Kansas State for a great tournament next weekend.”
The Yellow Jackets hit .341 for the match as Hunter (11) and Mead (10) led the squad in kills. Hunter hit a team-high .417 and added four digs. Sophomore Susan Carlson had eight kills and seven digs, while sophomore Alexis Woodson added six kills. Senior Mary Ashley Tippins had 30 assists and seven digs while senior Jordan McCullers added eight digs just hours after recording the 1,000th of her career earlier today against Alabama A&M.
McCullers was named the Most Valuable Libero of the tournament and joined on the all-tournament team by Mead and Tippins.
The first set saw the Yellow Jackets take an early lead and never let UAB back in the match. Tech opened up a 13-7 lead and forced UAB into a timeout. Following the timeout, the Blazers never got any closer than four points. It was 18-14 Jackets when the Jackets ran off six of the next seven points to put the match away and go on to win 25-19. Hunter led Tech with five kills as it hit .212 for the set while holding UAB to a .100 clip.
The second set was much of the same as the Jackets scored the first four points and never looked back en route to a 25-14 win heading into the break. Mead led the Jackets with five kills as they hit .379 as a team compared to UAB’s .000.
The Yellow Jackets again took command early in the third set and did not look back en route to a 25-14 win and second straight sweep on a match today. Mead and Hunter had four kills apiece for the Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets will now head to Manhattan, Kansas for their first road trip of the season as they will participate in the Varney’s Kansas State Invitational. Georgia Tech will play Oral Roberts (10 a.m.) and Loyola Marymount (4:30 p.m.) on Friday, Sept. 3 and then Kansas State at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4.
