THE FLATS — Georgia Tech volleyball’s incoming 2018 class received highest honorable mention by PrepVolleyball.com. The Yellow Jackets welcome the eight-player class to The Flats for the 2018-19 season.
“It is always reassuring to get our recruiting classes recognized nationally,” said head coach Michelle Collier. “Our coaching staff and everyone around our program works hard not only to find exceptional athletes but more importantly to find quality young women who will make us proud and add value to our institute and the world with their future endeavors.”
Collier completed the 2018 class in April when Gabi Dolan (outside hitter, Marietta, Ga./The Westminster School), Lexi Dorn (setter, San Diego, Calif/Purdue), Matti McKissock (setter, Orlando Fla./The First Academy), and Mariana Brambilla (outside hitter, Porto Alegre, Brazil/Centro de Ensino Medio Pastor Dohms) joined Kayla Kaiser (outside hitter/middle blocker, Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS), Breland Morrissette (middle blocker, Birmingham, Ala./The Altamont School), Maddie Tippett (libero/defensive specialist, Atlanta, Ga./St. Pius HS) and Mikaila Dowd (outside hitter, Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley HS).
The class of 2018 joins 11 returners. Six of the returners saw significant action during the 2017 season in right side sophomores Grace Rigsbee and Cori Clifton, sophomore Sam Knapp and junior Emily Becker at libero and senior Lauren Frerking and junior Kodie Comby at middle blocker.
In the 2017 season, the Jackets took down their first top-25 opponent since 2013 with a 3-1 defeat of No. 17 Michigan State. The win was also Collier’s first career win over a top-25 opponent. Tech also ended a five-match losing streak to North Carolina, topping the Tar Heels in O’Keefe Gymnasium in a match televised on ESPNU.
Off the court, Georgia Tech volleyball earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards for multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores that rank among the top 10 percent nationally for the third-straight year.
“Here at Tech we develop young people who will change the world and the student-athlete who craves this challenge is a special individual,” added Collier. “We have no peers when it comes to what our student-athletes are doing athletically and academically. Our recruits set themselves apart from the pack the moment they choose to become a part of the Georgia Tech athletics family and our institute. We believe this group, combined with the group we’ve been growing here on campus, can help our program to continue to reach new heights. The future is exciting for Georgia Tech volleyball and I look forward to their arrival on campus this summer.”
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