Nov. 22, 2013
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech volleyball team (11-18, 5-12 ACC) served its way past Boston College (9-20, 1-16) in straight sets (25-19-25-11, 25-22) Friday on senior night.
“It’s always really nice to get a win on senior night,” head coach Tonya Johnson said. “For everybody to show up for our seniors, and for us to connect and play as one; I thought we did that tonight and what a great honor to this year’s seniors to get a 3-0 win at home. It’s nice to win 3-0 at home and control the tempo of the match, and I certainly thought we did that tonight.”
The Jackets notched 15 service aces, which rank as the second-most in a single match in Georgia Tech history; second to the 16 the Jackets put down against Florida State in 2006. The Jackets serving kept Boston College’s offense out of sync, as the Eagles managed a .053 hitting percentage and 22 kills compared to Tech’s 39.
“We’ve been talking all week about serving and serving tough,” Johnson said. “I thought we served aggressively, and when we do that we get teams in trouble. I thought it was really important tonight to come out and be aggressive at the service line. We did just that; 15 service aces in a three-set match is pretty impressive.”
Senior Kaleigh Colson came through on senior night, recording her fifth double-double on the season with 26 assists and a team-best 12 digs to go along with six service aces. Sophomore Chanell Clark-Bibbs added four aces of her own.
Senior Jennifer Percy and junior Courtney Felinski tallied nine kills each, while senior Ivona Kolak added seven kills. Senior Quinn Evans put up a team-high four blocks, including one solo block, which handed Georgia Tech the match.
“I thought our seniors really stepped up and answered the call,” Johnson said. “They got an opportunity to compete together tonight. I thought they responded really well to that and did a nice job. I was really proud of Ivona, who has been out the last couple of weeks with an injury. It was nice to see her come out and compete.
“It was also nice to see Kaleigh come in and control the match, run the offense and play great defense.”
Georgia Tech recorded four service aces in the first 11 total points of the opening stanza. Leading 12-5, Tech went on a 6-3 run for an 18-8 advantage. Boston College laced together a 4-0 run to close Tech’s lead 18-12 and slowly chipped away to pull within two points, 21-19. The Jackets won the set, 25-19, holding the Eagles to a .105 hitting percentage compared to the Jackets .195 hitting clip with five service aces.
The Jackets jumped out to a 10-1 run to start game two. Clark-Bibbs served back-to-back aces and Percy notched three kills in that span. The Jackets led by 11 points, 22-11, and finished the set on a three-point streak. Tech was solid in the game, hitting .560 with 15 kills and one error on 25 swings with five service aces.
After falling behind 6-2 in the third set, the Jackets put together a 7-3 rally to knot the game, 9-9, behind the serving of London Ackermann and key kills from Felinski. The Jackets followed that with three points in a row to take a 12-9 lead. It remained neck-and-neck throughout the set. The Jackets were poised at match-point, 24-20, but Boston College scored two quick points to force a Yellow Jacket timeout. Tech came out of the break and put the match away on a solo block by Evans.
The Jackets are back in action Sunday against Syracuse. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. at O’Keefe Gym.
Fan should be reminded to park in the Lower Peter’s deck (before 1 p.m.), and along Techwood Drive, 6th Street and Fowler Street (except between 8th and 10th streets) due to the men’s basketball game scheduled for 2 p.m.
For an inside look at the program, follow Georgia Tech volleyball on Twitter, @GTVolleyball, Instagram, GTVolleyball, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, Georgia Tech Volleyball.
