LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior outside hitter Julia Bergmann has been named this week’s GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week, the AVCA announced on Tuesday. Garnering her second career selection, Bergmann becomes the first Yellow Jacket to receive the prestigious honor twice in a career.
Prior to the Bergmann’s first recognition a season ago (Aug. 31, 2021), none donning the White and Gold had received the award since Kele Eveland on Sep. 15, 2003. The esteemed attacker receives the nation’s highest weekly honor on the heels of her third ACC Player of the Week award this season.
To earn the standout recognition, Bergmann led No. 10 Georgia Tech volleyball (17-4, 10-2 ACC) to another undefeated weekend of conference play with 3-1 road victories over North Carolina and NC State. In doing so, the decorated Jacket tallied her highest kill output of the season through two combined matches. Bergmann piled up a combined 46 kills, resulting in a gaudy 5.75 kills per set. On top of her plethora of kills, the vaunted outside hitter pitched in defensively with 25 digs, a pair of blocks and an ace through two victories in The Triangle.
Bergmann opened the week with a team-high 21 kills on a .366 hitting percentage on top of eight digs and an ace in the triumph over North Carolina. The reigning ACC Player of the Year followed by leading the squad yet again on the attack, stuffing the stat sheet as she not only tied her second-highest kill total on the year with 25, but also compiled a season-best 17 digs and a pair of blocks in the win over NC State. The 25 kills tied the fifth most in a single match by a member of the ACC this season, while that kill total as well as her 26 points in the match also tied the fourth most in the league in four sets.
Bergmann now owns nine matches of 20 or more kills as well as eight double doubles this season. Against North Carolina, she became the fifth Yellow Jacket ever to join the 1,500 kill/1,000 dig club, eclipsing 1,000 digs in the match to meet the mark. The renowned attacker is currently ninth in program history in career kills (1,576) and fifth in program history in career aces (152).
On the season, Bergmann continues to lead the ACC in kills per set (5.32) as well as points per set (5.93), ranking second in the NCAA in both. She also tops the conference and is top 15 in the country in total kills (383) and points (427).
Up Next
Georgia Tech will move onto the back end of its stint of road matches, making a Florida trip to take on Miami (13-9, 6-5 ACC) on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in Coral Gables, Fla. before concluding the swing at Florida State (20-10, 11-7 ACC) on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. in Tallahassee, Fla. Both matches will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Competitive Drive Initiative
In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative kicks off with the Accelerate GT Match Program, where any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, up to $2.5 million. Should Accelerate GT reach its $2.5 million fundraising goal, the matching gift would result in a $5 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.
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