Oct. 14, 2004
Off to a perfect 6-0 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Georgia Tech volleyball team (11-5, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) returns to the cozy confines of O’Keefe Gymnasium to host two ACC matches. Tech hosts Virginia (13-5, 3-3 ACC) Friday at 7 p.m. followed by a match Saturday at 7 p.m. against Maryland (8-8, 3-3 ACC).
“It’s great to play at home and we’re coming back to O’Keefe Gym at a great time,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “It’s homecoming week and there’s a lot of excitement on campus. As a team, the team is doing a great job of keeping themselves motivated during practice and in matches, which is very good to see.”
Friday’s match marks the 35th time that the Jackets have faced the Cavaliers, with Tech holding the series’ edge 20-14. Tech took three matches from Virginia last year and has not lost to the Cavaliers since the 2000 season. In addition, the last time Virginia defeated the Jackets in O’Keefe was during the 1998 season.
“Virginia has a great combination in Emily and Sarah Kirkwood this year,” said head coach Bond Shymansky.. “After losing a couple of key seniors off last year’s team, they have really rebuilt in a strong way and are looking to contend for this year’s title,” said Shymansky. “They have a balanced offensive attack and very solid backcourt play and it should be a challenging match for us.”
On Saturday, Tech the Jackets will return to action against the Terrapins. Tech enters the match with a trailing the series between the two schools, 16-22, and have lost the last two meetings against Maryland. However, the last time Maryland defeated Tech in O’Keefe was during the 1997 season.
“Maryland is a team that our team is very excited and hungry to play,” said Shymansky. “They have struggled early on in the season, just like us, but have started to put together stronger play. They are a very good blocking team and can be effective offensively at times and will pose a challenge for us.”
“This should be a fun weekend,” said Shymansky. “The combination of playing Virginia and Maryland in the same weekend is one of our biggest home court challenges this year, but after four road matches, our team is very excited to be playing at home again and look forward to having great crowd support.”
