Oct. 11, 2008
ATALNTA, Ga. - Graduate student Natalie Mullikin recorded five blocks to set the a school record for career total blocks with 473 in Wake Forest's 3-0 loss to Georgia Tech Saturday evening in O'Keefe Gym. The Yellow Jackets got a strong night from Talisa Kellogg to sweep the Deacons 25-19, 26-24 and 25-20. Mullikin teamed up with sophomore Kristen White for a block assist in the third set for the record setting block. She came into the match just four blocks behind Margaret Davidson's (1998-01) career mark of 472. Mullikin is already the school's career leader in block solos and she is now just 29 block assists away from breaking Davidson's total of 388 as well. The win lifts Georgia Tech above .500 in the conference at 4-3 and 12-5 overall. The loss was the second straight for the Deacs and they are now 13-6 overall and fall back to a tie with the Yellow Jackets at 4-3 in the ACC. Kellogg had a solid night for the host Yellow Jackets, recording a match-high 15 kills, two service aces and seven digs. Chrissy DeMichelis chipped in with 12 kills and Allie Niekamp dished out 39 assists. On top of her five blocks, Mullikin also had a team-high 13 kills and a .323 hitting percentage. Setter Kelsey Jones had 33 assists and three digs while sophomore Megan Thornberry led the defense with 13 digs. Fellow sophomore Lauren McIntyre had five kills with no errors along with a total of four blocks. After three straight attack errors from the Deacs, Georgia Tech took an early 11-7 lead in the first set forcing a Wake Forest timeout. The Yellow Jackets kept the momentum after the break and eventually extended the lead to as much as eight at 18-10.
After a service ace from Lauren McIntyre, Georgia Tech pushed the lead to 22-12 before kills from Mullikin, McIntyre and two kills from Fornah cut the lead to 24-19 but a final kill from Kellogg gave the Yellow Jackets a 25-19 first set victory. In the second set, Georgia Tech got a kill and a service ace from Kellogg to go on a 4-0 run and open up an early 7-4 lead. GT pushed the lead to 11-7 but a kill and back-to-back blocks from Mullikin sparked an 11-1 Wake Forest run to give the Deacs an 18-12 lead. Mullikin had a total of three kills during the spurt. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to 21-18 but a service error and Mullikin's record tying block gave the Deacs a seemingly insurmountable lead of 23-18. But that's when Kellogg took over. After a kill from teammate Chrissy DeMichelis, Kellogg took a pass from Stephanie Robbins and deposited a kill that forced a Wake timeout at 23-20. Coming out the break, White had back-to-back attack errors for the Deacs allowing GT to pull to with one at 23-22. Kellogg would follow with two more kills. Trailing 24-23, Wake turned to Mullikin to even the score with a kill of her own. But a Deacon service error and Kellogg's ninth kill of the set gave Georgia Tech a 26-24 come-from-behind victory. In the third, the teams could battled back and forth neither team could manage more than a two point edge. With Georgia Tech up 20-18, Mullikin put away her 13th kill of the match but the Yellow Jackets would go on to score five of the next six points to put the match away. Fittingly, the set ended on back-to-back kills from Kellogg to give GT a 25-20 victory. Georgia Tech hit .239 as a team while the Deacs were held to just .134 on the night. The Yellow Jackets also out dug Wake Forest 56 to 49 while the blocking advantage also went to GT at 8.5 to 8.0. The Deacons continue their road trip next weekend as they travel to Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 17, at 7:00 p.m. Wake will then finish the road trip at Virginia on Sunday, Oct. 19 at noon. |
