Oct. 12, 2012
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Georgia Tech volleyball team (14-4, 6-2 ACC) defeated Wake Forest, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20), for its seventh sweep in the last 11 games. The Yellow Jackets are back in action Saturday night at Duke. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Four Jackets hit over .300 led by Kaleigh Colson’s .600. Monique Mead had 15 kills to lead Tech and added five blocks, while Annie Czarnecki added nine of her own kills and eight blocks.
Tech had a season-high five solo blocks – two from freshman Chanell Clark-Bibbs and one from Mead, Czarnecki and Colson, who had her fifth double-double on the season with 14 digs and 36 assists.
Zoey Morton matched her career-high, putting up 12 digs.
“I thought Zoey did a good job tonight,” head coach Tonya Johnson said. “She had 12 digs. She did a great job of just being steady. She didn’t do too much. I thought she was steady, disciplined and patient in the middle back and
Kristin Grissom led Wake Forest (7-12, 1-6) with nine kills and a .333 hitting percentage. As a team, the Deacons hit .059, while the Jackets hit .297.
In set one, the two teams battled back and forth. With the score tied 5-5, the Yellow Jackets went on a 4-1 rally for a 10-6 lead and stayed ahead for the rest of the game. When it looked like the Demon Deacons gained some momentum, scoring three-straight, the Jackets received a kill and a solo block by Clark-Bibbs to shut it down.
“I didn’t think we were prepared to play defense early on in the match,” Johnson said. “Once we got disciplined and understood what we needed to do, I thought our kids adjusted and started playing better volleyball.”
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 7-4 lead in game two, but Wake Forest slowly chipped away and tied the game at 13. Georgia Tech capitalized on a Wake Forest serving error, a solo block by Clark-Bibbs and a block assist by Clark-Bibbs and Bailey Hunter to go up 16-13. Tech won the second game on a kill by Mead, 25-20.
Georgia Tech trailed the Deacons at the start of game three. The Demon Deacons took a 6-3 lead to initiate a GT timeout, but GT proved resilient and fought back for a 15-11 lead. Tech put on a blocking clinic in the third game taking a 21-15 lead thanks to three blocks by Czarnecki (one solo and two assists). The Yellow Jackets had seven of their 14 total blocks in just the third game.
“All we worked on stopping the D [the slide],” Johnson said. “I thought our kids followed the defensive plan from a blocking standpoint, which allowed us to be successful. The game plan was to double block the D and we did what we were supposed to do. When that happens the game is easy.”
