Volleyball ends season with two-game road trip

The Jackets finished off an excellent season with 16 conference wins and an ACC third-place finish. Despite their great efforts, the three seniors from the last Tech team to reach the NCAA tourney could not carry this year's team into the national spotlight.

The team lost its final game of the year to Maryland, downing the last remaining chances of Tech being eligible to play in the national tournament. Having been predicted to finish second in the ACC, the Jackets focused on their key rival Duke but were caught by surprise by the rising stars of Clemson.

The Jackets were on a strong surge in the second half of the season, winning nine of the last 11 matches. They also defeated every single opponent at home during the remaining half.

"I'm so proud of how our passers and our defenders have been doing this year. Michelle Kendall, our libero, broke a record this year in digs; Jordan McCullers and Lindsey Gray have been playing phenomenally; our offense, this year, is doing extremely well," said Allie Niekamp, a power setter.

For instance, the Jackets recently downed the Miami Hurricanes; Nikki Kaminskas followed through with one of her best outings with a total of 15 kills and a .700 hitting average for the night.

"For every single program, we have a scouting plan, and I think [Friday night] we did a really good job at executing that scouting plan," Niekamp said.

For Senior Night, against Florida State, the Jackets played well to a large crowd. Lindsey Gray, also a fourth-year member of the team, provided key leadership and managed six digs for the night.

Overall, the Jackets won about 75% of their home matches this season. This has reinforced the opinion that O'Keefe Gymnasium is one of the toughest facilities for opponents.

"I would say [that crowd is the thing I would miss most]. Come game night, on Fridays and Saturdays, O'Keefe is definitely the hardest place to play in for any visiting team. Going on the road, you definitely miss the crowd support.... One thing that got me here [at Tech] was the crowd and I will always miss the crowd the most," Gray said.

Over the holiday break, the Jackets managed to win on the road against Boston College. Both Kaminskas and Chrissy DeMichelis rallied the team in a grueling head-to-head match-up at the match point in the tiebreaker game. Michelle Kandell provided key support for the attackers; the libero knocked 25 digs for the night. Furthermore, Allie Niekamp proved to be a key asset with over 70 assists during the most crucial moments of the match.

Despite their tremendous efforts, the Jackets fell short at Maryland in another five-game setting. Strong-powered star hitter Talisa Kellogg knocked a personal season high 25 kills over the net. Once again, Kandell stepped it up in the back row with 30 digs.

With the Jackets holding a slight lead in the fourth game, third-year Stephanie Robbins stepped up in place of the senior blocker and tallied two crucial service aces to help extend the match into a tiebreaker game. However, the Terrapins managed six unanswered points to take away the win.

The Jackets have much to be thankful for this season. Stellar players Ulrike Stegemann and Talisa Kellogg were named to the All-ACC teams. The Jackets will retain much of their power with Kellogg next season, when the Jackets try and get back to the NCAA tournament.