Oct. 13, 2007
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Talisa Kellogg led four Yellow Jackets in double figures, posting a match-high 19 kills, to lead Georgia Tech (11-7, 5-3 ACC) to a 3-1 (30-19, 30-27, 28-30, 30-18) victory over Wake Forest (7-12, 4-6 ACC) Saturday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
Kellogg hit .372 and also recorded three block assists and a solo block while Nikki Kaminskas hit .556 with 12 kills in addition to seven block assists and two service aces against the Demon Deacons.
Setter Allie Niekamp ran the Yellow Jacket offense, which hit .270 on the night, with 59 assists, seven digs, seven kills and four block assists. Libero Michelle Kandell notched a match-high 23 digs and had four assists against Wake Forest.
Joining Kellogg and Kaminskas in double-figures in kills up front were outside hitter Chrissy DeMichelis and middle hitter Callie Miller, with 18 and 10 kills, respectively.
In addition to Kandell’s 23 on the back row, three other Yellow Jackets posted double-figures in digs, as Ulrike Stegemann and Lindsey Gray had 13 apiece and Jordan McCullers added 11.
The Jackets used a 6-0 run to take an early 10-6 lead to start the match and then closed out the first game on a 13-3 run, which included a streak of 11 consecutive points with Kandell at the service line. Tech won, 30-19, by hitting .250 and recording 22 digs in the game, while the Demon Deacons managed just 10 kills while committing eight attack errors for an .048 clip.
With a 5-1 run to close out game two, the Yellow Jackets took a 2-0 match lead with a 30-27 victory. Trailing 26-25, Tech received a pair of kills from Kellogg and another from Kaminskas before a block by Kaminskas and Niekamp gave the Jackets a 29-26 lead. Kellogg led all players with seven kills in the game, while Kaminskas added five kills and two block assists for the Jackets.
The Demon Deacons received back-to-back kills from Kristen White and Natalie Mullikin after Tech tied game three at 26-26 and then held on for the two-point win, 30-28. Both teams hit over .300 in the frame, but Wake Forest notched eight total blocks to the Jackets’ six, and had 21 kills to Tech’s 18 to pull within 2-1 in the match.
Tech closed out the match on a 5-0 run and by winning 12 of the last 16 points in a 30-18 game four victory. The Jackets hit .333 to the Demon Deacons’ .075 in the frame.
Jessica Furlong was the Deacs’ top hitter on the night, notching 13 kills while libero Megan Thornberry recorded a team-high 20 digs.
Georgia Tech will return to Atlanta to face Clemson in a midweek match at O’Keefe Gymnasium before hosting Maryland and Boston College next weekend. The Yellow Jackets and Tigers square off Tuesday at 7 p.m. on a night when Georgia Tech collects used cell phones to benefit the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program. All fans that donate a used cell phone will receive free admission. The match can be followed online via ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) and WREK Radio (www.wrek.org / 91.1 FM in Atlanta), while live stats will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
