THE FLATS – No. 8 seed Georgia Tech volleyball rolled past The Citadel (25-21, 25-15, 28-26) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on the way to its 14th sweep of the season on Friday night in O’Keefe Gymnasium. Yet another sweep marked the first for the Yellow Jackets in an NCAA tournament match since 2004, when the White and Gold breezed past No. 16 UC Santa Barbara.
Tech (24-5, 14-4 ACC) was dominant nearly across the board in the match, leading SoCon champion The Citadel (14-12, 7-9 SoCon) in kills (48-29), hitting percentage (.263-.165), assists (43-26), aces (4-2) and digs (42-26).
Junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann, fresh off receiving ACC Player of the Year, highlighted the match with a team-high 16 kills. Along with that, Bergmann added a pair of aces during the match, moving into a tie for ninth in program history in career aces with Jenn Beemsterboer (1987-90) as the pair own 128 apiece. The decorated outside hitter also pitched in defensively with a pair of block assists and four digs.
Junior middle blocker Erin Moss provided a steady attacking presence from inside, tallying 10 kills at a solid .471 clip to go with a couple of digs and total blocks (one solo, one assisted) on the night. Fellow middle blocker in senior Breland Morrissette anchored Tech’s defense with three block assists, surpassing 100 blocks on the season up to 101 to date. Senior right-side hitter Mariana Brambilla was a key contributor all around as well, leading the team with 12 digs while totaling 10 kills for her 10th double double of the season.
Georgia Tech moves on to the second round of the NCAA tournament having won 56 of its last 67 matches dating back to 2019. The Jackets have also won 34 of their last 39 matches on The Flats in O’Keefe Gymnasium.