LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 16 Georgia Tech volleyball (4-0) handled Long Beach State (2-3) with a 3-1 victory over the hosting Beach in the Jackets’ first match of the Long Beach State Tournament at Walter Pyramid on Friday. Apart from a highly contested third set the Beach were able to sneak away with, 33-31, Tech outscored Long Beach State 75-46 in its three winning sets.
Freshman outside hitter Bianca Bertolino continues to impress through her first collegiate campaign as she led the Yellow Jackets piling up 21 kills on 37 attacks with only one error for a gaudy .541 hitting percentage. The Argentinian also picked up 12 digs and a solo block for her second career double double. Junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann joined Bertolino in having a stellar night, coming away with 17 kills, three service aces to surpass 100 career aces, 14 digs for a double double and a career-high six total blocks (three solo, three assisted). Senior outside hitter Mariana Brambilla pitched in across the board, adding 15 kills, an ace, eight digs and five total blocks. The “Killer B’s” totaled 53 kills, four aces, 34 digs and contributed to 11 total blocks.
Senior middle blocker Breland Morrissette joined in on the Jacket block party as she tallied a career-high tying five total blocks to go with eight kills on just 13 attacks for a strong .615 hitting percentage. Fellow senior middle blocker Kayla Kaiser pitched in defensively with four total blocks along with six kills, and senior libero Maddie Tippett led the squad in digs with 18 to eclipse 1,000 career digs.
Senior setter Matti McKissock orchestrated the offense in her usual role, totaling 53 assists on the night.
Georgia Tech held a significant advantage in multiple categories on the stat sheet on the night, blowing away the Beach in kills (67-49), hitting percentage (.375-.204), assists (61-45) and blocks (13-4).