Sept. 1, 2011
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ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech Volleyball team (3-0) heads to the Lone Star State for its first road trip of the season as the Yellow Jackets will participate in the Rice Tournament II this weekend in Houston.
The Yellow Jackets will face Texas-Antonio (0-2) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. CT and then face Houston Baptist (3-0) at 11 a.m. CT and Rice (0-2) at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday. Live stats for all three matches will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
Scouting The Field: Georgia Tech is 1-0 all-time against Rice and has never faced either UTSA or Houston Baptist. The Jackets beat the Owls 3-0 back in 2002 at the George Mason Invitational.
Solid Start To Season:The Yellow Jackets opened the 2011 season with an impressive 3-0 showing at the Georgia Tech Courtyard Marriott Classic. Tech beat Kansas State (3-1) and Tennessee Tech (3-0) before coming back to win three straight sets and knock off Louisville (3-2) in the championship match.
Junior right-side hitter Monique Mead averaged 5.25 kills a set and hit .331 en route to MVP honors of the Georgia Tech Courtyard Marriott Classic as well as being named ACC Player of the Week. The two-time All-American also averaged 2.58 digs per set and had eight total blocks and seven service aces. Mead had 20 kills in a four-set win over Kansas State Friday night in the season opener and then tied a career-high with 30 the next night against Louisville as Tech overcame a 2-0 deficit to stun the preseason Big East favorites.
The Newnan, Ga., native exploded for 22 of her 30 kills in the final three sets against the Cardinals, including 11 in the third, to help the Jackets begin the season 3-0 for the second time in three years under head coach Tonya Johnson. It was the second time Mead went for 30 kills in her career and just the 13th time in school history an individual has had at least 30 kills.
Santi Shines In Opener: With the departure of two-time All-American setter Mary Ashley Tippins (now a student assistant coach), the Jackets returned a total of one assist from 2010. Sophomore Kaleigh Colson and freshman Ali Santi battled in preseason for the spot but an injury to Colson gave the starting nod to Santi and the Honolulu native did not disappoint. Santi averaged 10.17 assists per set en route to Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic All-Tournament Team honors. In the win over Louisville, Santi had her first career double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs. Santi averaged 2.17 digs per set on opening weekend.
