Jackets Fall to No. 5 Cardinal on Sunday

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech volleyball (10-9, 5-5 ACC) finished the week 1-1 after dropping its Sunday afternoon match 3-0 to No. 5 Stanford (18-3, 9-1 ACC).

QUICK HITS

• Mimi Mambu recorded her 10th match of the season with double-digit kills as she recorded a team-high 11 kills against Stanford.
• Mambu’s 11 kills on Sunday increase Mambu’s double-digit kill streak to three-matches, which is her longest run since the Georgia Tech Classic where she opened the season with a streak against Wofford, Ole Miss, and Arkansas State.
• Noemi Despaigne bolstered Mambu’s offensive efforts with 10 kills for her fifth match of the season with double-digit kills.
• Despaigne has seen double-digit kills in Tech’s last four contests, including her 12-kill performance against Wake Forest which was the second best of the season for the freshman.
• The outside hitter’s four-game double-digit kill streak is the second-best offensive streak behind Anna Fiedorowicz who just came off of an eight-game double digit kills streak which saw two matches with 17 kills.
• Sunday saw Fiedorowicz record her second most attempts this season for the third straight match. Her 32 attempts against Stanford are behind her 35-attempt performances against SMU, Pittsburgh, and Duke.
• Sofia Velez recorded her 15th game of the season, her fifth consecutive match, with double digit digs. Her 13 digs bring her to 120 games recording 10+ digs out of 129 total collegiate games.
• Freshman Abi Li recorded her first career ace during the second set of her second career appearance.

SET BY SET

Set 1 (GT 21 – STAN 25)

• The visiting Cardinal jumped out in set one and forced the Jackets to try to fight back through set one. Tech was able to tie the set five times (7-7, 14-14, 17-17, 19-19, and 20-20) but they went on to get outscored 5-1 for a 25-21 set one loss. Despite dropping set one, Tech was able to hold its No. 5 ranked ACC opponent to only 12 kills and a .189 attack percentage. Despaigne led Tech’s offense with four kills while DeAndra Pierce and Bianca Garibaldi had three apiece. Heloise Soares began the match with 14 assists on 34 attempts. Both Velez and Despaigne had four digs respectively while Garibaldi had a pair of blocks.

Set 2 (GT 23 – STAN 25)

• Set two was much closer as the Jackets and the Cardinal exchanged the lead four times and saw the score tied five times. Tech was able to only improve its attack percentage but similar to set one, struggled to avoid errors. Stanford was able to take the lead late in set two (19-17) and despite fighting to make the match 24-23, Tech dropped set two with one final Cardinal kill. Mambu recorded the most kills across both teams in set two (6). Both Garibaldi and Fiedorowicz also recorded three kills respectively.

Set 3 (GT  14 – STAN 25)

• Stanford went on an early five-point run causing the Jackets to trail 9-3. Tech was able to piece together a four-point run of its own shortly after to make set three 13-10. The three-point difference was unfortunately the closest the Jackets would get to coming back in set three. Despaigne finished the match with four final kills while Mambu would get another three and Fiedorowicz another two. Velez recorded five final digs and Soares finished with 11 assists in set three.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets will load the bus to head back up north for a pair of ACC contests in Virginia. Tech will open the trip on Friday, Oct. 31 against Virginia and finish the week against Virginia Tech on Sunday, Nov. 2.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

 

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