LEXINGTON, Ky. – Georgia Tech volleyball’s Mariana Brambilla and Julia Bergmann have each been tabbed AVCA All-Americans for the 2020-21 volleyball season, the AVCA announced on Wednesday. Following a historic season for the Yellow Jackets in which they each played vital roles, Brambilla was named an AVCA Division I Third Team All-American, while Bergmann was selected as an AVCA Division I All-America Honorable Mention.
The duo also recently received All-ACC honors and AVCA All-Region honors as Bergmann and Brambilla were both unanimously named All-ACC First Team and to the All-AVCA East Coast All-Region Team.
Brambilla and Bergmann’s selections mark the first time a Yellow Jacket has earned All-American status since Teegan Van Gust was named an Honorable Mention in 2016. The last Jacket before Brambilla to garner honors as high as Third Team All-American was Monique Mead in 2012. Georgia Tech has not had two players both named All-Americans by the AVCA in the same season since Mead and Mary Ashley Tippins were both Honorable Mentions in 2010. In program history, Tech has now had 18 Honorable Mentions, three Third Team members, one Second Team selection and one Jacket named a First Team All-American by the AVCA. Kele Eveland holds the top honor of AVCA First Team All-American for her performance throughout the 2003 season.
Brambilla’s first All-American recognition comes after spearheading the Georgia Tech attack with a team-high 270 kills and pitching in on the defensive side with 184 digs, the third most on the squad. The Porto Alegre, Brazil native surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark this season against Boston College (3/12) as she has now tallied 1,100 career kills. In the ACC ranks, Brambilla has been named ACC Player of the Week (10/27) for her performances through a series sweep of Clemson and finished ranked second in the conference in kills per set (4.22) and third in points per set (4.77) on the year.
Bergmann earns her first national recognition as just a sophomore shortly after a stellar performance in the First Round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. In her first career match in the Big Dance, she piled up 31 kills against Lipscomb for the most ever by a Yellow Jacket in an NCAA Tournament match and the most by a Georgia Tech player in any outing in almost 16 years (Talisa Kellogg – 35 vs. Virginia, Oct. 22, 2005). Bergmann became only the sixth player in Tech history to ever record as many as 31 kills in a single match. The Munich, Germany native finished second on the team with 269 kills as well as 186 digs and led the team with 30 aces on the year. Amongst the conference, the outside hitter finished second in aces per set with a 0.47 average. Bergmann was named ACC Co-Player of the Week (10/13) for her contributions in back-to-back sweeps of Florida State.
Brambilla, a junior, and Bergmann are both set to return for the Tech’s 2021 volleyball slate.
Georgia Tech (14-5, 13-4 ACC) concluded its 2020-21 season by advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship for the first time since 2004 before falling to No. 3 seed Minnesota. The Yellow Jackets took down Lipscomb in the First Round for their first NCAA Tournament win in nearly 17 years. The berth in the Big Dance alone marked the 10th time in program history, the first for the Yellow Jackets since 2009 and the first appearance under coach Michelle Collier.
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