The Sports Inquirer

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Midway through Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Georgia Tech volleyball team has continued to find its level of play under first-year head coach Michelle Collier. The Yellow Jackets (9-10, 2-4) have won two out of their last three contests after going through a four-match losing streak earlier this season. Georgia Tech hosts Pittsburgh (15-2, 3-1) in a home contest this Friday before heading to Miami (11-6, 4-2) on Sunday.

“Our team is still in the beginning stages of developing,” Collier said. “We’re learning more about the game and the players are starting to understand their roles. We have so much more to go.”

Georgia Tech’s last home match was a successful one as it defeated North Carolina State 3-1 (25-16, 28-26, 26-28, 29-27) on Oct. 10. The Yellow Jackets had a balanced offense with three players posting double-digit kills; Annika Van Gunst (18), Courtney Felinski (13) and Teegan Van Gunst (11).

“Our pin hitters are doing a good job and carrying a heavy load,” Collier said.

Georgia Tech also had a strong defensive effort led by Sydney Wilson and Teegan Van Gunst who had seven and six block assists respectively. London Ackermann had a career-high 27 digs in the victory.

“We definitely did what we wanted to do with our game plan,” Collier said of the NC State contest. “They run a quick offense so we wanted to be disciplined with our hands and force their outsides to swing around a solid double block. We served and passed well which kept pressure on their offense and set up our defense.”

Felinski added, “We stuck with it at the end of the last three sets which all were close and went past 25 points. We kept control in those situations, maintaining positive momentum and energy.”

The Yellow Jackets dropped their last contest to Clemson 3-1 (13-25, 15-25, 25-21, 22-25) on Oct. 12.

“We came out flat,” Collier said about the Clemson match. “We weren’t executing our defense at the level we did against North Carolina State. Clemson put pressure on our offense, played great defense and blocked us well. It was good to see the team refocus and put a good third set together.”

Georgia Tech welcomes in Pittsburgh who have won 10 of its last 11 matches. The Panthers own conference wins over Boston College, Notre Dame and Syracuse.

“We’re working on digging and executing transition plays,” Felinski said. “Even if we don’t have a perfect pass or dig, we can still put pressure on the other team.”