Tech Opens Home and Home With Clemson With Sweep

CLEMSON, S.C. – Georgia Tech volleyball (14-10, 9-6 ACC) capped its five-match road swing with a quick sweep of Clemson (16-11, 4-11 ACC) on Wednesday night.

QUICK HITS

• Anna Fiedorowicz proved to be a problem for the Tigers’ defense with 16 kills. The team high 16 kills marked the 12^th match this season Fiedorowicz has recorded double-digit kills and was the 12^th match in the last 14 outings she did so.
• Her .500 attack percentage was good enough for a new career high as was her three solo blocks.
• Fiedorowicz’s attack percentage was the third best overall for a Yellow Jacket this season while her 16 kills were the second best in a three-set match behind her own 17-kill performance against Syracuse.
• Mimi Mambu also saw a career high attack percentage with 14 kills on 27 swings and only one attack error, good for a .481 attack percentage. Similar to Fiedorowicz, Mambu also marked her 12^th match of the season recording double-digit kills.
• Her 14 kills were the fourth most for a Yellow Jacket in a three-set match this season behind her own 15-kill performance also against Syracuse.
• Heloise Soares earned her ninth double-double of the season, 11^th of her career, after recording a career high six blocks, tying her career high for kills for the seventh time (2), and holding a season best .541 assist percentage after being credited with 46 assists.
• Soares’ 46 assists on Friday are the second most in a three-set match, just shy of her best three-set performance on the season against Florida State (47).
• Noemi Despaigne played her part as part of the freshmen trio, contributing 10 kills, eight digs, and two blocks.
• Despaigne’s eight digs tied her career high performance against Stanford earlier this season.
• Her 10 kills were the seventh time she recorded double-digit kills, with the Italy native doing so in six of the last seven contests.
• Bianca Garibaldi led the Jackets defensively with eight blocks, which was the fourth time the sophomore has seen those numbers at the net this season.
• Freshman Abi Li has become a consistent piece to Tech’s rotations and made the most of the action as she recorded a career high three digs in her seventh appearance.
• As a unit, Tech saw its second-best attack percentage of the season (.394), bested only by its .424 attack percentage against Wake Forest.
• Additionally, the Jackets had their second-best kills (52) and assists (51) in a three-set match this season.
• Tech advanced its record against Clemson, 45-35. The Jackets extend their win streak against Clemson to 17 matches, with the last Tech loss being back in 2015.
• With the sweep on Wednesday, Tech has claimed victory in three sets in 12 of the last 16 meetings with Clemson.

SET BY SET

Set 1 (GT 25 – CLEM 23)

• The opening set was the closest between Tech and Clemson with the Tigers sporting a match high .314 attack percentage compared to Tech’s .286 attack percentage. Despite the lower attack percentage, Tech recorded 20 kills compared to Clemson’s 13 to ultimately take the set one win. Clemson jumped out in front of Tech to begin the match as an eight-point scoring run forced the Jackets to trail, 9-2. Tech battled back to tie the match 18-18 and even took the lead 19-18 to gain a slight advantage over Clemson going into the final points of the set. The Yellow Jackets went on to claim the final two points after being tied 23-23 late in set one. Fiedorowicz was nothing shy of phenomenal in the first set as she recorded nine kills on 16 swings with only one error, along with two digs and one solo block. Soares began the match leading both teams with 17 assists as well as recording six digs.

Set 2 (GT 25 – CLEM 17)

• Set two saw Tech improve across the board with a .375 attack percentage and six blocks on defense, while holding Clemson to only 10 kills and a .088 attack percentage. The Jackets began the second set outscoring Clemson 12-8 until the Tigers took a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Tech could not be stopped as it continued to outscore Clemson 11-4, to establish an eight-point lead (23-12). Despite a late five-point effort from the Tigers, Mambu and Pierce delivered the final kills to take set two. Mambu was the set two leader with seven kills on 10 swings and not a single attack error. Soares tallied another 14 assists this time on 27 attempts, good for a .519 assist percentage. Defensively, Mambu had one block while Garibaldi had four block assists and Soares had three.

Set 3 (GT  25 – CLEM 18)

• The Jackets were absolutely unmatched offensively in set three as Fiedorowicz (5), Garibaldi (4), Mambu (4), and Despaigne (3) made up Tech’s 16-kill final set. Tech saw one of its most precisely executed offensive performances in set three with a .652 attack percentage and only one attack error. Both teams traded points until a three-point run gave Tech enough room to gain momentum. Following a Clemson timeout, Tech went on to outscore the Tigers, 8-5, to establish a six-point lead (20-14). With a comfortable lead, Tech was able to wrap up the match in three sets. Soares collected her final 15 assists on 20 attempts (.750 assist percentage). Fiedorowicz recorded two final solo blocks in the third set while Garibaldi had three final block assists.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets return home to The Flats to host the Tigers on Friday at 7 p.m. in O’Keefe Gymnasium. The match is set to be streamed on ACCNX.

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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