Nov. 8, 2007
ATLANTA – Callie Miller notched a career-high 20 kills and Talisa Kellogg hit .455 while recording a match-high 21 kills to lead Georgia Tech past No. 14 Duke, 3-1 (30-24, 30-23, 27-30, 31-29) Thursday night at O’Keefe Gym. With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 18-9 on the season and 12-5 in the ACC, while Duke fell to 20-5 and 15-2 in conference play.
The Yellow Jackets’ win is Tech’s 12th over a ranked opponent since Shymansky was named head coach in 2002, and extends the program’s streak to six-consecutive years of recording at least one victory over a ranked team.
“Our team played with great poise tonight and stayed in control of the match from the first point to the last,” head coach Bond Shymansky said. “It feels like every week we’ve had improvement, and we’re certainly rising at the right time.”
Miller surpassed her previous career-high of 18 kills by hitting .485 with 20 kills and just four errors on 33 attempts. The junior also recorded six block assists on a night when the Jackets tied their season high with 15 total blocks.
Kellogg extended her streak to four matches of notching 20 or more kills by recording 21 while committing just one error on 44 swings against Duke. The junior captain also recorded four block assists and had two digs on the night.
“Talisa has really stepped up her play and has become an anchor of the offense of late, but it was Callie that put up another career night against Duke,” Shymansky added.
Michelle Kandell continued her dominance on Tech’s back row, recording a match-high 18 digs against the Blue Devils, while junior setter Allie Niekamp fell just one dig shy of posting her seventh double-double of the season after posting 67 assists and nine digs in addition to four block assists on the night.
Ulrike Stegemann rounded out the Jackets in double figures against Duke, tallying 17 kills in addition to eight digs and a pair of block assists.
Miller posted nine kills and hit .615 in the opening game to lead Georgia Tech to a 30-24 victory to begin the match. Tech scored the first point of the game and never relinquished the lead, using two separate 4-0 runs to build a seven point lead at 19-12 before holding on for the six-point win.
Tech hit .263 and tallied four total blocks to win the second game, 30-23, and take a 2-0 lead in the match. Stegemann and Kellogg posted four kills apiece while Nikki Kaminskas added two solo blocks for the Jackets in the frame.
Duke held off a late Georgia Tech comeback in game three to win, 30-27. The Blue Devils took their largest lead of the match on an attack error by Lindsey Gray, making the score 15-9 in Duke’s favor, but Tech eventually tied the game at 22-22 on a service ace by Kaminskas. The Blue Devils then scored back-to-back points on kills from Rachael Moss and Ali Hausfeld and held on for the three-point win.
Tech jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in game four and held on for the 31-29 win by hitting .410 with 19 kills and just three errors on 39 attempts. The Jackets turned to Kellogg late in the match, and the captain responded with six kills and just one error on 16 attempts, while Miller notched three block assists in the frame to lift Tech to the win.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Friday night when they host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 8 p.m. at O’Keefe Gym. Live stats can be found at RamblinWreck.com.
