Sept. 10, 2011
ATLANTA – Junior Monique Mead had 21 kills and nine digs but it was not enough as the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (6-3) fell to Samford (8-1), 3-1 (20-25, 23-25, 26-24, 18-25) Saturday night in the championship match of the Regency Suites Invitational at O’Keefe Gym.
Mead as well as sophomore Jennifer Percy were each named to the All-Tournament team. Mead hit .333 on the night as she recorded her sixth 20-kill performance of the season. Percy as well as senior Asia Stawicka had nine kills apiece while freshman Courtney Felinski added eight on .312 hitting. Stawicka had eight total blocks on the night as well for the Yellow Jackets.
Freshman Ali Santi had 47 assists and seven digs while junior Nicki Meyer led the team with 14 digs. Classmate Susan Carlson added seven as well.
Tech hit .286 as a team on the night and had 11 blocks.
Samford led almost end to end in the first set as the Bulldogs won 25-20. Samford went on a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 lead and force a Jacket timeout. Tech got within a point later at 19-18 but the Bulldogs reeled off five straight to go up 24-19 and went on to the win. Tech hit just .206 in the opening set and was led by Mead who had five kills.
In the second set, Tech held an 11-8 lead before a 6-0 run by Samford gave the Bulldogs a 14-11 edge. Tech came back to tie the set at 15 and the teams see-sawed a couple of points before Samford led 20-18 forcing a Tech timeout. It was 21-18 Bulldogs before a late Tech run tied the set at 23. After a timeout, however, Samford scored the final two points to take the commanding 2-0 lead in the match. Mead led the Jackets again with seven kills as they hit .290.
In the third set, the Yellow Jackets used a 5-0 run to take a 13-11 lead and start building momentum as the teams went back and forth for the next several possessions. Georgia Tech led 23-22 but Samford came back to take a 24-23 lead and hold match point. Tech answered with the final three points to get back in the match as the 26-24 win made it 2-1 Samford. Mead led the Jackets again with eight kills as Tech hit .500 for the set.
Tech dug itself an early hole in the fourth set and was unable to recover as Samford went on to a 25-18 win and the 3-1 win for the match. The Yellow Jackets were down 10-4 early and tried to come back, but every time they got within two points, Samford built a little more of a cushion. The Bulldogs led 20-18 but proceeded to score the final five points to complete the victory.
The Yellow Jackets hit the road again this week to participate in the Clemson Tournament. Tech will face Furman on Thursday, Sept. 15 and then Clemson the next night in the ACC opener. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. and live stats will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
