Dec. 4, 2009
LOS ANGELES – ACC Freshman of the Year Monique Mead had 12 kills and nine digs but it was not enough as the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (21-10) fell to Baylor (23-9), 3-0 (17-25, 22-25, 22-25) Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Pauley Pavilion. The Yellow Jackets were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2004 under first-year head coach Tonya Johnson.
“We didn’t do what we needed to tonight to put ourselves in a position to win,” said Johnson. “Baylor’s middles were very good and we couldn’t defend them. We had a lot of missed opportunities, but I’m proud of what we accomplished this season and that we were able to send the seniors out with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The future is extremely bright for Georgia Tech Volleyball.”
Mead hit .241 for the night and also added three block assists to go along with her 12 kills and nine digs. Seniors Chrissy DeMichelis and Brittany Roderick closed out their Tech careers with eight kills apiece. Sophomore Bailey Hunter also had eight kills for the Jackets on .333 hitting, while junior Mary Ashley Tippins added a team-high 32 assists. Junior Jordan McCullers led the way with 11 digs on the night. Tech hit .207 for the match, while Baylor hit .286.
The first half of set one was nip and tuck as it featured 11 ties. The Yellow Jackets were down 14-11 but battled back to tie the set at 15. Baylor answered though with a 10-2 run to run away and took a 1-0 lead for the match with a 25-17 win. Mead and Hunter led Tech with four kills apiece. The Jackets hit .143 compared to Baylor’s .250.
Tech scored the first three points of the second set, but Baylor stormed back with a 7-1 run to lead 7-4. The Bears led by as many as five points and looked like they were going to run away, but the Jackets clawed back and eventually tied the set at 22 with a 7-2 run of their own. Baylor, however, closed the set on a 3-0 run to win 25-22 and take a 2-0 lead for the match into intermission.
The Yellow Jackets had a 6-4 lead in the third set but Baylor reeled off five quick points to go up 9-6 and had Tech playing catch-up for the rest of the set. The tried to chip away but were never able to get any closer than a point as the Bears went on for a 25-22 win and took the match 3-0.
