[ COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL ]
Yellow Jackets
block out Bears"D" is the difference as
Georgia Tech advances
to face UH
Offense is fun to watch but it's defense -- or the lack of it -- that decides matches.
Much was said about Georgia Tech's quick offense and the firepower of Cal's Mia Jerkov this week, but the deciding factor was defense in the Yellow Jackets' 30-25, 20-30, 30-24, 30-23 victory over the Bears in an NCAA regional semifinal yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Georgia Tech (34-3) is the first Atlantic Coast Conference team to reach the elite eight. Cal concluded its season at 25-7.
The Jackets' offense was hardly crisp from the get-go, but their defense sustained them until the offense started clicking. In the three games Georgia Tech won, blocking allowed it to take early leads or pull away from Cal when the score was close.
Setter Kele Eveland also helped Georgia Tech settle down en route to posting her first career triple-double with 11 kills, 12 digs and 52 assists. It is the second triple-double in Tech history.
The ACC Player of the Year had a hand in seven of Georgia Tech's season-high 16 1/2 blocks. The Ramblin' Wreck defense wreaked havoc on Cal's offense, holding all but one hitter to single-digit kills. Tech out-hit Cal .295 to .200.
"The passing is so important for us," Eveland said. "If it's just a little bit out of (sync), our system is not as fluid or as fast as we can get it. As soon as we got our passing in rhythm, we started setting girls and they started pounding away."
Only one Bear reached double figures in kills. Jerkov had 32 kills for Cal, but had a match-high 75 attempts.
"Our passing and our defense could've been a little sharper," said Cal setter Samantha Carter. "When your passing and defense are off, it's a lot easier to read the set.
"They had a phenomenal blocking night. They blocked us out of the gym. They had a lot of doubles-up on us."
Cal's block, on the other hand, was mostly missing.
The absent block was conspicuous to the Bear faithful, one of whom screamed "somebody get the block off the bus."
"I don't think it was them. I think it was us," Jerkov said. "We had a lot of errors. We had four team blocks, which is bad compared to them. They got us out of rhythm. We didn't work hard enough to get back in.
"We all agreed at the beginning that it's going to be about defense and blocking."
It was hard to focus on one attacker with Eveland running a balanced offense. Lynnette Moster (16 kills, 16 digs), Lauren Sauer (17 kills) and Alexandra Preiss (16 kills, seven blocks) registered double-digit kills. The Yellow Jackets out-dug Cal 76-67 and took advantage of their opportunities in transition.
It helped, too, that Eveland exploited the porous Cal defense, hitting .527, and was as much a factor in distributing points as she was scoring them.
"I've never had a triple-double, so that's pretty cool," said an elated Eveland. "But as a setter, I represent the team. This is about a team game. We did a great job of passing and working so hard together."
She is one of the reasons that Yellow Jackets coach Bond Shymansky likes his chances in tonight's regional final against No. 2 Hawaii.
"She'll be the first to tell you that she doesn't have the best hands in the world, but she has the best heart as a setter," Shymansky said. "She's the consummate leader for our team. It shows every single point. She is the passion, the soul of our team.
"We've been to NCAA four straight years and Kele has been our starting setter. That experience is incalculable."
Notes: The Jackets are 5-0 against ranked opponents this season, the most victories in school history. ... Eveland's triple-double is Tech's first since Rochelle Komula (27 kills, 12 blocks, 10 digs) in 1996. ... In other sweet 16 matchups, top-seeded Southern California swept Texas A&M 30-26, 30-25, 30-27 in the Nebraska regional. The Trojans will meet rival UCLA in the regional final. The eighth-seeded Bruins defeated the host Cornhuskers 20-30, 30-27, 30-21, 30-23. Washington ousted Stanford 30-25, 26-30, 30-19, 30-26 in the regional at Long Beach State. The Huskies face Minnesota, which outlasted Pepperdine 28-30, 30-28, 30-27, 26-30, 15-8. In the Florida regional, the third-seeded Gators swept Colorado State and will face Penn State, a 3-1 winner against Kansas State.