Aug. 30, 2014
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech volleyball team (2-1) fell 3-1 (22-25, 13-25, 25-18, 22-25) Saturday against South Carolina (3-0) at the Gamecock Invitational at the Volleyball Competition Facility in Columbia, S.C.
Three Yellow Jackets tallied double-digit kills in All-Tournament Team selection Teegan Van Gunst (13), Annika Van Gunst (12) and Courtney Felinski (12). Junior Callie Bivings recorded a double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs, while freshman Annika Olsen added 18 digs.
The Jacket’s offense out-hit the Gamecocks .269 to .258, but serving aces proved costly as Tech tallied 14 miscues to South Carolina’s five.
“South Carolina came out strong and we were unable to get them out of system with our serving,” head coach Michelle Collier said. “We adjusted well in the third and fourth game and got better offensively and defensively, but our serving and passing game was not at the level we need it to be to win the match.
“Overall a great weekend. We were able to see a lot of people get playing time and we did a lot of great things as a team. Now it’s back to the gym to work hard and adjust somethings for the next tournament.”
The opening set was a back-and-forth battle and the Jackets had the lead 10-7 thanks to a three-point run sparked by an Annika Van Gunst solo block. South Carolina later worked its way back into the match on a 7-1 run, which gave the Gamecocks a 23-20 lead and the momentum to capture the opening set.
The Gamecocks opened set two on a 6-0 run and never looked back, winning 25-13. Georgia Tech came out of the intermission with renewed energy and held the Gamecocks to a .000 hitting clip in set two, while swinging at a .556 mark led by Teegan Van Gunst’s five kills. Tech shutout South Carolina’s offense with six blocks, including a solo block by freshman Sydney Wilson, and won the set 25-18.
The fourth set featured eight tied scores and four lead changes, but three service errors and seven attacking errors helped South Carolina to a 25-22 victory.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action next weekend Sept. 5-6 at the SMU Tournament in Dallas, Texas. The Jackets take on SMU at 8 p.m. Friday to kick off the tournament, and have two matches Saturday against Oklahoma at 11 a.m. and Texas Southern at 5:30 p.m.
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