Nov. 14, 2009
ATLANTA – Senior Chrissy DeMichelis had 12 kills, but the No. 15 Florida State Volleyball team (25-2, 16-1 ACC) swept Georgia Tech (18-9, 12-5), 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-23) Saturday afternoon at O’Keefe Gym. The Yellow Jackets handed the Seminoles their only ACC loss earlier this season in Tallahassee, but came up short today.
“This was a tough weekend,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “We had ample opportunities both today and last night to win some sets and put ourselves in position to win matches but just could not finish. Rally scoring is a game of momentum and our failure to execute gave both Miami and FSU hope. Now, we need to take something away from this weekend and carry it over into our final three matches which are really big.
Georgia Tech hit just .204 for the match compared to FSU’s .275. The Jackets had three players score double-figures. After DeMichelis’ 12, freshman Monique Mead and sophomore Bailey Hunter each had 10. Mead hit .333 for the match. The Seminoles had eight blocks compared to Tech’s three and six service aces. The Jackets committed nine service errors in the match. Jury Ashley Tippins dished out a team-high 39 assists and had nine digs. Junior Jordan McCullers had 10 digs to lead the Jackets.
Florida State used its blocking to build an early 14-9 lead in the first set. The Seminoles had five blocks in the early going as Tech tried to hang tough. The Jackets were never able to get any closer than two points and dropped the set by a 25-20 score. Mead led the Jackets with four kills but they hit just .143 for the set compared to FSU’s .375 clip.
Tech led 14-10 in the second set, but a 6-2 run by the Seminoles evened the score and forced the Jackets to call timeout as they looked to even up the match heading into intermission. After the timeout, FSU went on to score four of the next five points to take its largest lead of the set, 20-17, and Tech had to call its final timeout to try and slow down the run. Tech got within one point a couple of times down the stretch, including 24-23, but the Seminoles were able to close it out and went up 2-0 in the match as the teams headed off to the locker rooms.
The third set was a see-saw affair for the beginning, but then Florida State used a mini 3-0 run to take a 15-12 lead and force a Jacket timeout. It was the largest lead for either team of the set so far. Tech chipped away and chipped away until it was able to re-take the lead at 23-22 and force a Seminole timeout. Just when it looked like FSU was going to put the Jackets away at 21-19, Tech came back. Following the timeout, however, FSU scored the final three points to win 25-23 and sweep the Jackets 3-0.
The Yellow Jackets wrap up their regular season home schedule next weekend as they host both Virginia and Virginia Tech. Tech will take on UVA, Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. and then the Hokies the following night; also at 7 p.m. Prior to that match, seniors Chrissy DeMichelis and Brittany Roderick will be honored. Both matches will be broadcast on WREK, 91.1 FM in Atlanta and online at www.RamblinWreck.com.
