Nov. 6, 2010
ATLANTA – Behind a 19-kill effort by Monique Mead and 18 kills from Bailey Hunter, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (16-11, 9-6 ACC) rallied to a 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23) victory over Miami (18-8, 8-7 ACC) on Saturday night in a packed O’Keefe Gymnasium. The victory for the Yellow Jackets moved them back into sole possession of third place in the ACC.
Senior Jordan McCullers had a career-high 28 digs and senior Mary Ashley Tippins moved into fourth-place all-time at Tech in assists. She handed out 52 tonight and now has 3,438 in her career as she passed Margaret Gales.
Hunter hit .417 on the night as Tech bounced back from .091 hitting in the first set to finish with a .266 percentage for the match. The Jackets also had 14 blocks, led by seven from sophomore Alexis Woodson. Junior Asia Stawicka added six total blocks for Tech.
Mead led all players with 19 kills and hit .235 while also adding six digs and five total blocks. Freshman Jennifer Percy rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Jackets with 10 kills on .273 hitting. Junior Alison Campbell chipped in with a career-best 13 digs as well for the Yellow Jackets.
The first set was back and forth as each team traded mini runs but it was the Hurricanes who closed out on a 10-2 run to win 25-20. A pair of 4-0 spurts by the Yellow Jackets gave them a 10-5 lead, but Miami responded shortly with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 15-14 lead. Georgia Tech answered with four straight points to go back up 18-15 but that’s when Miami closed out on a 10-2 spurt to win the opening set. Mead led the Jackets with five kills, but Tech hit just .091. Miami, meanwhile, hit .222 and had four blocks to take the early lead.
Miami kept the momentum going briefly in the second set as it scored the first three points but Tech quickly erased that with a 4-0 run to take the lead. The teams then traded the next few points until another 4-0 run by the Yellow Jackets gave them their largest lead of the set at 13-9. Tech kept that four-point lead until it slowly began pulling away late. Miami got within two points at 14-12, but that was as close as the Jackets allowed it to come back. Georgia Tech went on to a 25-18 win to even the match at one set apiece. Hunter led Tech with eight kills, while Mead had four. The Yellow Jackets hit .378 for the set and also had four blocks. Miami hit .167.
In the third set, the Jackets jumped out to a 4-1 lead and would never trail as they went on to a 25-19 win and 2-1 lead for the match. The Hurricanes came back to tie the set at 12, but Tech quickly scored four points to open up a 16-12 advantage and force Miami into a timeout. The Canes got within two, but the Jackets stretched their lead to as much as six points and went on to win. Stawicka and Hunter each had four kills for Tech in the third set as the Jackets hit .263 and recorded five more blocks. Miami hit just -.027.
Miami scored the first point of the fourth set, but six of the next seven belonged to the Yellow Jackets as they took a 6-2 lead. Miami answered right back with five straight points to re-take the lead at 8-7. Georgia Tech slowly tried to build the lead back up again and after threes straight points it held a 15-11 advantage, but Miami answered once again. The Canes began chipping away and eventually were able to tie the set at 17. Tech came right back and held match point at 24-20 before three straight Miami points made things interesting. Mead, however, ended the match for the Jackets as her 19th kill of the night gave the Jackets a much-needed win.
Georgia Tech now hosts Virginia Tech next Friday night at 7 p.m. Live video will be available at RamblinWreck.com and the match will also be broadcast on WREK, 91.1 FM in Atlanta and online at RamblinWreck.com.
