THE FLATS – No. 14 Georgia Tech volleyball (1-1) returned to its winning ways on Sunday afternoon, dispatching of New Mexico State (1-1) in four sets: 25-13, 25-13, 21-25, 25-11. Sophomore right side Larissa Mendes drove the Yellow Jackets offensively, finishing with a career-best 23 kills on .500 hitting as Tech collected its first win of the 2024 season.
QUICK HITS
- Georgia Tech fans filled O’Keefe Gym marking the 30th consecutive sellout for the program dating back to the 2021 season.
- Mendes finished with a career-best 23 kills, the most kills by a Georgia Tech underclassman since three-time All-American and Olympic medalist, Julia Bergmann, made 31 against Lipscomb back in 2021 (April 14, 2021).
- Mendes made those 23 kills on .500 hitting, her fourth career .500+ hitting performance.
- Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene secured her second double-double of the season and 24th of her career, finishing with 13 kills and 13 digs. It marks the first time in her five-year collegiate career that she has started a season with back-to-back double-doubles.
- Otene didn’t stop there, securing three service aces, matching her career-best for the fourth time.
- Senior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino and junior DS/L Sofia Velez led the defense with 16 digs each (4.00/set).
- Bertolino has secured 36 digs through just two matches, giving her 1,040 over her career, the 9th most by a Jacket in the modern scoring era (since 2008).
- Bertolino was her usual self from the service line, racking up four aces. She now has seven aces this season and 111 over her career, just five shy of cracking the Top 10 for most career aces in program history.
- For the second match in a row, senior middle blocker DeAndra Pierce was the most efficient scorer, racking up eight kills on .538 hitting. She is off to a strong start in her senior season with 15 kills on .480 hitting through two matches.
- Junior middle blocker Liv Mogridge was a force at the net, making eight kills along with a team-high four blocks.
- Senior setter Luanna Emiliano delivered her first 40+ assist match in White & Gold, securing 43 assists. She now owns 3,743 career assists after transferring into the program from UTRGV over the offseason.
- This was head coach Michelle Collier’s 198th victory at Tech as she pushes to become only the second GT head coach to achieve 200 wins on The Flats.
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 25 – NMSU 13)
After trading points to start the match, Tech went on a 6-0 run to take an 8-5 lead, causing New Mexico State to call an early timeout. Tech extended their lead to 17-8, blocking any Aggie momentum and forcing another timeout. Tech held on to its lead, winning the set 25-13 and taking a one set advantage. Tamara Otene and Larissa Mendes led the Jackets with four kills apiece.
Set 2 (GT 25- NMSU 13)
Defensive mistakes plagued the Aggies early, with Tech taking a 12-6 lead. The Aggies tried to cut into the Tech lead, but could not gain consistent momentum, trailing 21-12 after a DeAndra Pierce kill. Tech ended the set with a 4-0 run, shutting down the Aggies 25-13 in set two. The Tech defense put up a strong front in set two, holding New Mexico State to just a .067 hitting percentage, with Tech totaling 15 digs and two blocks.
Set 3 (GT 21 – NMSU 25)
New Mexico State took a 7-3 lead in set three, breaking up early Tech momentum. The Yellow Jackets answered with points of their own, but the Aggies maintained the advantage, leading 15-9 after some Tech miscues. New Mexico State extended their lead to 21-15, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout. Tech then cut the Aggie lead to 24-21, but NMSU had the final point of the set, winning 25-21.
Set 4 (GT 25 – NMSU 11)
The teams traded points to open the fourth set, with the set tied 6-6, before Tech used a 4-0 run to take the first multi-point lead of the set. Tech used another 4-0 run to take a 14-8 lead over the Aggies, forcing NSMU to call its second timeout. Tech held off an Aggie attack, winning the set 25-11 and the match 3-1. The Yellow Jacket offense was on display in the fourth set, totaling a match-high 19 kills.
UP NEXT
The Jackets finish up the GT Invitational on Monday against Coastal Carolina (0-2). First serve is set for 4 p.m. and the match will be streamed lived on ACCNX.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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