Sept. 13, 2002
Lauren Sauer had a career high 26 kills while Lynnette Moster recorded 20 kills and a career high 20 digs as the Georgia Tech volleyball team defeated No. 19 Michigan State in four games, 30-22, 30-32, 30-28, 30-25. With the win, the Jackets improve to 8-1 while the Spartans fall to 5-2.
The Yellow Jackets’ outside hitters dominated the match, posting a combined 46 of Tech’s 72 kills in the match. Kele Eveland recorded a season-high 62 assists while Marisa Aston recorded a career high 15 digs followed by Keight Vincent who had 11.
“What a great way for us to start off a really tough tournament,” said Bond Shymansky, who has defeated two nationally ranked teams in his first season as a head coach. “Our team is not only playing great, but feeling great. Lauren Sauer has been nursing a shoulder injury and is obviously back to full strength. She was virtually unstoppable tonight. Michigan State was a very powerful and aggressive hitting team and showed why they deserved to be ranked in the top 25. Sally Schulte and Ben Bodipo-Memba did a fantastic job of preparing for the Spartans all week. We knew that it would take our best execution to beat them. Our next step is to take care of business tomorrow morning with South Florida.”
In the first game, the two teams stayed close, with sideouts by both sides. Tech then claimed a 8-5 lead on a kill from Lynnette Moster and a stuff block from Jayme Gergen and Kele Eveland. Michigan State came back with points of its own on kills from Sara Villwock and an overpass from Laura Kuhn. But, the Jackets fought hard to jump out to a 17-11 lead with Lauren Sauer and Preiss each recording three kills and with solid defensive play from Marisa Aston. The Jackets never looked back and won the first game 30-22 on a solo stuff block from Sauer.
Michigan State recovered in the second game, building a 12-7 lead on kills from Jenny Rood and Kim Schram and two aces from Emily Engel. With the score 19-23, the Jackets called a timeout and came back on the court to score four consecutive points and tie the game 23-23 on a Spartan serving error, a kill from Kuhn and Sauer, and a solo stuff block from Sauer. But, Michigan State came back and took a 26-23 lead on three straight errors by the Jackets. Tech then scored on kills from Gergen and Sauer to take a 27-26 lead. With the score tied at 30-30, the Spartans scored on a Jacket error and a kill by Kyla Smith to win the second game, 32-30.
Game three was tight between both teams, with neither team holding more than a three point lead. With the Jackets leading 13-10, the Spartans scored on a kill from Villwock and a hitting error from Moster to catch Tech at 13-13. The Spartans then held a 24-21 lead, forcing Tech into a timeout. After the timeout, the Jackets came roaring back on three kills from Moster and one kill from Randall, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout at 25-26. Tech then scored on two kills from Sauer, a kill from Gergen and two Michigan State errors to win the game, 30-28.
The Spartans claimed an early 2-0 lead on kills from Smith and Jenny Rood, but Tech tied the score at 2-2 on a kill from Moster and an ace from Preiss. Tech then claimed a 10-7 lead on a block from Preiss and Eveland. With the score 14-14, the Jackets went on a tear, scoring points on four kills from Sauer and a solo block from Eveland and taking a 20-16 lead. Tech never looked back, continuing to sideout and score points on kills from Sauer and Moster. With the score 29-22, the Spartans sidedout on a kill from Nikki Colson, and then scored on a kill from Megan Wallin and a ballhandling error from Eveland to narrow the gap to 29-25. However, it was not enough as Sauer recorded her eighth kill of the game and give the Jackets the match, 30-25.
Tech returns to action Saturday at 11 a.m. when it plays at South Florida in the second match of the South Florida Adidas Invitational.
