Young volleyball team strives for excellence

Tech's volleyball team hopes to bounce back this year as they welcome prepvolleyball.com's 21st-ranked recruiting class. The Jackets look to improve on last season's 16-15 (12-10 ACC) record.

That record was good for fifth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as North Carolina claimed the title with an 18-4 ACC record. This season there are high hopes for Tech as they have been picked to finish third in the 12-team conference. They received one first place vote and 114 total points trailing Duke (8 first place votes, 139 points) and Virginia (3 first place votes, 127 total points) in the preseason coaches poll. Both teams finished ahead of Tech at the end of last season.

The teams that shared the first place records last season were voted to finish fourth and fifth. North Carolina, the 2005 champion, had 103 total points and Maryland scored 98 total points. The rest of the ACC is predicted to finish as follows: Florida State (83), Miami (73), Clemson (66), Wake Forest (59), Virginia Tech (33), Boston College (24) and North Carolina State (17).

The key for Tech this season is the returning starters. Last season, Tech had four All-ACC players; three return this season, hoping to get Tech back to the NCAA tournament. Junior Ulrike Stegemann was named to the All-ACC second team and Sophomores Talisa Kellogg and Callie Miller were named to the All-ACC freshman team. Stegemann, a two-time All-ACC player, finished with a 0.270 hitting percentage, which was good for second on the team. She also had 336 kills, third best on the team. Kellogg finished last year with 457 kills, a single-season freshman record at Tech. She is also a member of the 2006 preseason All-ACC squad with Stegemann. Callie Miller had a great season as well. She had a team-best 0.280 hitting percentage and was second on the team in blocks averaging 1.04 per game.

The fourth All-ACC member last year was senior Lindsay Laband, who started her career with little game experience. Replacing her is sophomore Allie Niekamp, a former Fab 50 selection out of high school. Although she is going into her first full year as a starter, she already has game experience for the Jackets. She played in a total of seven games but started two big rivalry games. Against Georgia, she had 36 assists, a service ace and two block assists. The other start came against Georgia State where she tallied 32 assists and three block assists.

The team's most experienced member is lone senior Abby Showers. She is primarily used as a right-side defensive specialist and will be the libero to start the season. Last season, she averaged 2.15 digs per game, which ranked third on the team. Another returning player is Junior Lindsey Gray, a left-side defensive specialist. She finished the season with 205 digs for fourth on the team, and had a career high in digs against ACC champs UNC (15 digs).

The middle hitter is junior Nikki Kaminskas. As part of the experienced back row, last season she averaged a team high 1.16 blocks per game. She ranked eighth in the ACC in blocks per game, and led the team in blocks 13 times out of the 28 games she played.

Other returning players are sophomores that are expected to contribute to the team's future success. Laura DeMichelis started 29 games last season for the Jackets and is expected to contribute from game one this season. She finished the season with 346 kills, good for a 3.17 kill average. Both categories were ranked second on the team. She had a career high 21 kills and 0.444 hitting percentage against Clemson in the same game. Michelle Kandell continues as a defensive specialist. Last season, she played in 26 matches. Kandell finished the season with 89 digs, an average of 1.14 digs per game, both ranked sixth on the team. Stephanie Robbins, who is a walk-on this fall, played in six matches last season as a defensive specialist also, and tallied a career high of three digs against Georgia State.

Joining the Yellow Jackets this fall will be the 21st recruiting class in the nation. Led by Erin Birmingham, this recruiting class is a reason why Tech is picked to finish third in the ACC. Birmingham was chosen as a Fab 50 recruit. She captained her team to a third place finish in their state championship, ending the season at a dominating 35-4-1. She is expected to challenge for playing time at the middle hitter spot.

Also expected to challenge for playing time is incoming freshman Chrissy DiMichelis. She is ranked 34th on the Senior Aces list of college prospects and the 15th best outside hitter. She captained her high school volleyball team and with sister Laura are the first sisters to play volleyball at Georgia Tech.

The final member of this year's excellent recruiting class is middle hitter Brittany Roderick. She is expected to compete for playing time at that position as well as on the right-side. Roderick led her high school team to back-to-back state titles in 2004 and 2005.

Leading the team is head coach Bond Shymansky. He enters his fifth year with the Yellow Jackets and became the fastest Tech coach to win 100 matches. In 2003, his team won 34 matches, a school record. They lost in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. The following year, after a 2-5 start, the Jackets rebounded big time winning 21 straight matches and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the tournament. Shymansky was named ACC coach of the year after winning 16 straight ACC matches, something that had not been accomplished since 1996.

Last season, the team finished with a winning record, but missed the NCAA tournament. He looks to improve on last season's record with a seasoned team and many returning young players.

The Jackets begin the season Friday, Sept. 1 at home against Mississippi State and Georgia in the Midtown Invitational. They begin the ACC schedule Sept. 22 on the road against Wake Forest and ACC-favorite Duke the next day.