Nov. 23, 2003
Lynnette Moster recorded 15 kills and 16 digs, but it was not enough as the No. 6 Georgia Tech volleyball team fell to Maryland in the championship match of the ACC Tournament, 30-26, 31-33, 27-30, 22-30. The Jackets suffer just their second loss on the season, both at the hands of the Terrapins, and fall to 30-2 on the season while the Terrapins improve to 26-7 on the year.
“Certainly our team is disappointed with the outcome of today’s match,” said head coach Bond Shymansky, who suffers his first loss in ACC tournament competition. “We started off great in the first game and had our offense working effectively, and then Maryland made some adjustments and did a great job of serving us tough and playing defense and we just couldn’t respond. I give Maryland a ton of credit as they are the only team to beat us this season. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of volleyball left in this season and a chance to still accomplish a number of great things for our program and our team will use this loss as a motivation to prepare for our matches next week and in the NCAA Tournament.”
The Terrapins played outstanding defense in the match, holding the Jackets to a season-low .217 percentage in the match and holding every Tech player to below a .300 hitting percentage. Jayme Gergen was the Jackets’ top hitter, recording 12 kills and hitting .293, while Alexandra Preiss had 16 kills and hit .278 and Sauer had 16 kills and hit .209. Eveland recorded 57 assists in the match, becoming the ACC and Georgia Tech’s all-time career assist leader, surpassing the Jacket’s former standout Andrea Nachtrieb.
Defensively, Jennifer Randall led all Jackets with 19 digs in the match, followed by Marisa Aston who had 17 and Eveland who tallied 16. At the net, Gergen had four block assists and Kuhn and Preiss each had three.
Earning all-tournament honors for the Jackets were Lauren Sauer and Marisa Aston.
Maryland was led by ACC Tournament MVP Lynnsy Jones who had 18 kills and 14 digs in the match while all-tournament selection Stepanie Smith had 13 kills and nine blocks at the net.
The first game started with both teams trading points until the score was tied at five a piece. On the twelfth point of the game, Eveland connected with Preiss for a kill down the middle of the night, giving Tech a 6-5 lead and marking Eveland’s 6,103 career assist list. Maryland fought back and took an 18-16 lead on a kill from Jones, but a kill from Preiss and Kuhn tied the game at 18-18. Tech took the final lead of the game at 20-19 on a stuff block from Kuhn and Gergen and never looked back. The Terps closed the game to 25-24, but the Jackets sidedout on a kill from Moster and scored on a hitting error from DeLivio to build a 27-24 lead. Tech won the final point of the game on a kill off the block from Moster to win, 30-26. In the game, the Jackets hit .360, recording only two hitting errors in the game while holding the Terrapins to a .267 percentage. Jayme Gergen had seven kills in the game to lead Tech while Preiss recorded five. Eveland had 19 assists and four digs along with Vincent and Aston who had four digs, as well.
In game two, Tech fell behind early on three straight kills from the Terps to trail 0-3. Tech managed to take a lead at 10-9 on a kill from Moster, but Maryland responded with a kill from DeLivio and hitting errors from Gergen and Kuhn to fall behind 10-13. The Jackets fought back and tied the score at 27-27 on a hitting error from DeLivio, but could never take the lead in the game as Maryland sidedout on a kill from Jones and Eveland could not set the ball to Randall, giving the Terps the game, 33-31. In the game, Moster and Sauer recorded five kills while Preiss had four. Aston recorded 10 digs in the game while Gergen notched three block assists.
Tech fell behind in game three and really could never recover. Tech mounted a late charge on a service ace from Randall to tie the game at 24-24, but a kill from DeLivio and a net violation from Eveland gave Maryland a 26-24 lead. Tech closed the gap at 26-27 on a Maryland service error, but a kill from Treadwell and a hitting error from Moster gave Maryland a 29-26 lead. Maryland scored the game’s final point on a hitting error off the antennae from Randall.
Game four was much of the same, with Tech recording several errors both at the service line and hitting and posted only a .096 percentage in the game. The Jackets fell behind 17-24 on two hitting errors from Kuhn and Sauer and never recovered. Tech closed the gap to 19-24 on a kill from Kuhn and Eveland, but a service error from Randall gave the ball back to Maryland and made the score 19-25. Maryland scored the final point of the match on a kill from Jones off the hands of Sauer.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Friday when they take on Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif. at 10:30 p.m. EST.
