THE FLATS – Two Yellow Jackets from the No. 7-seeded Georgia Tech volleyball team (21-10, 12-8 ACC) were awarded Southeast All-Region distinction, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced Tuesday. Senior outside hitters Bianca Bertolino and Tamara Otene were both named to the Southeast All-Region First team, marking the second consecutive season both Bertolino and Otene have received the honor.
This marks the sixth season in a row, since 2019, that Georgia Tech will have multiple representatives on AVCA all-region team, the longest streak in program history. These All-Region distinctions allow for both Bertolino and Otene to advance to the final round of All-American consideration. As one of the 14 best players in the Southeast Region, according to voting done by coaches in the region, Bertolino and Otene have qualified for the shortlist of players from which All-American teams will be selected from, next week. All-America teams (1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention) will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
Bertolino and Otene have been a considerable force for the Jackets all season, as each player has made over 300 kills and 300 digs. Bertolino (398 kills / 317 digs) and Otene (443 kills / 322 digs), achieving this feat for the second straight season. The pair were able to record similar stats last season and were the first Yellow Jacket duo to do so in the same season since 2015 (Teegan Van Gunst and Annika (Rowland) Van Gunst).
Bianca Bertolino | Sr. | OH | San Guillermo-Santa Fe, Argentina
Bianca Bertolino has proved through her senior season why she is one of the most decorated players to compete in White & Gold. She began the season as a Preseason All-ACC selection and quickly worked her way onto the Player of the Year Watch List after establishing .307 hitting percentage, averaging 3.21 kills/set. Through the season, Bertolino reached her 1,000th career kill against Virginia to become the 7th Yellow Jacket in the modern scoring era to achieve the feat. She went on to set a new modern scoring era record for career service aces against Boston College, surpassing Julia Bergmann’s record for career aces (164) which Bergmann set between the 2019-2022 seasons. Bertolino’s dangerous serve ranks her fifth, amongst all Power four players and seventh for aces per set. The Argentina native is tracking 3.46 kill/set for a career high 398 kills this season and already surpassed 300 digs on the season. Bertolino sits as the only Power 4 player with 300 kills, 300 digs and 50 aces. She becomes the first Yellow Jacket to receive All-ACC honors four straight seasons since Bergmann (2019-2022). Bertolino had back-to-back double-double performance during Tech’s NCAA Tournament run, including a career-high 25 kills in the first round.
Tamara Otene | Sr. | OH | Auckland, New Zealand
Otene secured her second-straight 400 kill/300 dig season, registering a team-best 443 kills and 322 digs, the most digs among Power 4 pin hitters. She began the season as a Preseason All-ACC honoree and secured her first weekly honor of the season after being named the ACC Player of the Week as well as being named the BYU Nike Invitational MVP after recording a combined 41 kills (5.13/set). Otene continued to provide dominant performances on both offense and defense and helped make Georgia Tech volleyball history as her 27 kill/21 dig performance against Duke (Nov. 1) gave her three 20/20 double-doubles, the most by any Jacket in the modern scoring era and second-most all-time. Despite already owning 1,128 career kills coming into the season, Otene hit the 1,000 kills mark in White Gold with her 26 kill performance against No. 6 Stanford (Nov. 27). Otene capped her senior season with a combined 54 kills in the Jackets’ 2024 NCAA Tournament run.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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