Aug. 22, 2007
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech volleyball team begins its 2007 season this weekend when it travels to the Arkansas Clarion Inn Invitational, which will be hosted by the University of Arkansas at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Aug. 24-25.
“This is the perfect test for us to begin the season,” Georgia Tech head coach Bond Shymansky said Wednesday. “We can measure ourselves against some of the top teams from various conferences around the country.
“Our team has gelled well this preseason and we have some new twists and features to our line-up that will make us even stronger this year. We will play hard and play great this weekend, I am positive of that.”
The Yellow Jackets will square off against Pittsburgh at 12 noon CT Friday in its season opener before meeting the Lady Backs on their home court in a prime-time match at 7 p.m. Tech wraps up tournament play Saturday with a meeting against Pepperdine at 2 p.m.
All three matches can be heard on WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta/www.wrek.org) while livestats will be available by clicking here or by visiting RamblinWreck.com. Fans may also view live online video of the Georgia Tech vs. Arkansas match by clicking here or returning to RamblinWreck.com.
This season Yellow Jacket fans can also have a glimpse into the minds of the players, as selected members of the team will post blogs on the Georgia Tech volleyball page at RamblinWreck.com following each and every match.
News and Notes:
-Georgia Tech returns 12 letterwinners from the 2006 squad that finished 20-12. Tech’s two newcomers both earned state player of the year honors, as setter Mary Ashley Tippins was named the AAAA Player of the Year and Jordan McCullers was tabbed the AAAAA Player of the Year. Both freshmen are from the Atlanta area.
-The Yellow Jackets have won two season openers under fifth-year head coach Bond Shymansky, and have begun their season on the road three times over the last five years.
-Tech is 38-14 in regular season tournaments since 2002 (Shymansky’s first season as head coach), and 19-11 in those contests away from the friendly confines of O’Keefe Gym.
-The Jackets are jumping into a challenging schedule early by squaring off against a pair of 2006 NCAA Tournament teams (Pepperdine/Arkansas) as well as a Pittsburgh squad that finished 22-9 in 2006 this weekend in the season-opening tournament.
-Tech is 2-0 all-time against Arkansas (last match – 2001), 0-2 vs. Pepperdine (last match – 1997), and has never met Pittsburgh in a volleyball match.
