No. 14 Jackets Hang with No. 1 CardinalsNo. 14 Jackets Hang with No. 1 Cardinals
Volleyball

No. 14 Jackets Hang with No. 1 Cardinals

Tech battles Louisville as Brambilla makes more Jacket history

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 14 Georgia Tech volleyball dropped its first contest in 11 matches to No. 1 Louisville, falling 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 27-25) on Friday night in Louisville, Ky.

Senior right-side hitter Mariana Brambilla continues to leave her mark in Tech history as she highlighted the night by moving up to eighth in program history in career kills with 1,467 to date after totaling eight kills on the night.

Despite the outcome, Georgia Tech (21-4, 12-3 ACC) led Louisville (24-0, 14-0 ACC) in multiple major categories in the stat column including kills (46-44), assists (43-39) and digs (52-40).

Junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann led the Jacket attack with 15 kills while pitching in nine digs and a pair of block assists defensively. Junior libero Paola Pimentel had a strong day on the defensive end, anchoring Tech with 17 digs.

How it Happened

The Jackets came out firing in the first set, using a three-point run early to jump ahead, 6-4. The Cardinals clawed their way into the lead incrementally from there, moving ahead at a tally of 9-8 and using spurts of two to inch further ahead up to a 16-12 lead. Tech bounced right back, using a three-point run to draw with one trailing 16-15 and later used a four-point burst to knot things up at 20 apiece. Louisville then took five of the next six points, pulling out a 25-21 first set victory.

Louisville was on the offensive to open the second set, taking five of the first six points out to a 5-1 lead. Tech rallied back with three straight points soon after, climbing back within a point at an 8-7 Cardinal lead and evened the tally at 12 all shortly after. The slugfest continued as both sides traded three-point rallies, resulting in a deadlock at 15. Louisville moved ahead and continued to attempt to create separation, but Tech refused to lie down, getting back within one trailing 20-19. The Cardinals would take control late once again, claiming five of the last seven points to come away with another 25-21 win in the second set.

Georgia Tech got going early in the third set, using a barrage of four straight points to go ahead 7-5. The Yellow Jackets maintained the lead until Louisville tied things up at 10. The match was tied five more times until the Cardinals picked up a pair of back-to-back points to lead 18-16. Louisville clung to the lead for the next few points, but Tech rallied back taking five of six points to leap ahead 22-21. As the two juggernauts traded shots, the Yellow Jackets found themselves with set point twice leading 24-23 and 25-24, but the Cards earned three straight points from there to slip away with a 27-25 third set win and match sweep.

Up Next

Georgia Tech will return home for what is set to be its second consecutive top-five contest against No. 3 Pitt on Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. in O’Keefe Gymnasium.  Coverage information will be provided here.

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