Miami Volleyball Edges Georgia Tech, 3-2

Nov. 13, 2009

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Atlanta, Ga. – Junior middle blocker Lici McGee posted a career-high 15 kills and 13 blocks Friday night in helping lead the University of Miami past Georgia Tech, 3-2 (20-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 16-14), in ACC volleyball action at O’Keefe Gym in Atlanta.

Given the history between these two teams, nothing less than the third consecutive five-set thriller between them would have been expected from the fans in attendance Friday evening.

Having dropped the first two sets with mirror 25-20 scores, Miami (16-10, 9-7 ACC) needed offense from a variety of people in order to try and avoid suffering its second consecutive sweep, having fallen to Duke last Sunday in Coral Gables.

Georgia Tech (18-8, 12-4 ACC) took the early 4-3 lead in the third set before Miami’s Lici McGee started a 4-0 run in favor of the Hurricanes, vaulting her team to an 8-4 advantage. In the run, McGee had two kills and two block assists. Monique Mead and Chrissy DeMichelis kept the Yellow Jackets within striking distance until a UM attack error gave Georgia Tech the lead, 19-18.

Asia Stawicka and Mead combined for blocks and Miami was called for a ball handling error in order to give Georgia Tech a 22-19 advantage. Miami senior Maria Andersson stamped a kill, and Lane Carico followed with one of her six in the set to equal the score, 24-24.

A couple of errors charged to the Yellow Jackets allowed Miami the 25-23 set victory.

In the fourth frame, it was the hot hitting of sophomore outside hitter Lane Carico and the blocks at the net by McGee that sparked the `Canes.

Miami ran out to a quick 10-5 lead as Williamson charged the `Canes with two kills during a 6-2 Hurricanes run. Sophomore outside hitter Christine Williamson would tack on two more kills and McGee would be critical at the net down the stretch, combining with Williamson and freshman setter Nrithya Sundararaman for blocks in the end, earning UM the 25-20 set win. Overall, McGee had two kills and five assisted blocks in the set for the Hurricanes.

The fifth and decisive set was back-and-forth almost the entire way.

The `Canes stormed to a 6-4 lead as Williamson tallied a kill, and the Yellow Jackets were called for two attack errors–all part of a 3-0 UM run.

With Miami clinging to a 9-8 lead, Georgia Tech got a kill from Bailey Hunter and used a UM service error to go back out in front, 10-9.

The set would stand even at 11-all following a Georgia Tech service error. That’s when the Yellow Jackets surged to a 14-11 advantage, thanks largely in part to Mead and Brittany Roderick, both claiming kills in a 3-0 Georgia Tech rally.

After Miami ninth-year head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch called timeout, UM went with the force in the middle all night, Lici McGee. McGee registered all three of her kills in the set during the final stages. She tallied consecutive kills to bring UM to within 14-13, and teammate Williamson hammered home one of her four kills in the set, knotting the set at 14-all.

Georgia Tech committed an attack error to give UM the lead, 15-14, and McGee finished it off with a kill to bring the Hurricanes a hard-fought 16-14 set- and match-victory.

Tonight’s win marked the fourth consecutive for the Hurricanes over the Yellow Jackets, and it was the third-straight win coming in a five-set encounter.

Georgia Tech was led on the night with four players in double figures for kills, most notably Mead with a match-high 21. Mead picked up a double-double adding 11 digs and collecting three blocks (two assisted). Also touching double figures for kills were Hunter (17), DeMichelis (14) and Roderick (14). Setter Mary Ashley Tippins provided a match-high 56 assists, and libero Jordan McCullers brought in a match-high 24 digs.

The `Canes were led in kills by Carico’s 20 as she posted her 16th double-double of the season by adding 19 digs. For Carico, it was her fourth-straight double-double performance, going along with two assists and two blocks (assisted).

Christine Williamson registered a new career-high for kills, providing the `Canes with 19 on the night while also adding two block assists.

But it was the play of Lici McGee down the stretch and at pivotal times for Miami that stood out in the win. She walked off the court with a career-high 15 kills, a career-high 13 blocks (assisted) and collecting three digs from her middle blocker position. She also accumulated a career-high 21.5 points for UM.

Senior libero Cassie Loessberg led the Hurricanes defense with 21 digs, and Sundararaman set the offense with a team-high 47 assists. Sundararaman also staked five block assists, five digs and a kill from her setter position.

Miami steps back on the court Saturday, November 14 when the Hurricanes travel to Clemson for an ACC matchup at 6 p.m. Live stats will be provided by Game Tracker.

For more information on the University of Miami Volleyball team, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes Volleyball program.