ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia Tech volleyball (8-1) made a statement on Friday night, rallying after dropping the opening set to dominate Georgia (6-4) in four sets (15-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-14) inside Stegeman Coliseum. The Yellow Jackets out-hit Georgia .365 to .000 over the final three sets, earning an eighth consecutive victory.
QUICK HITS
- This was the 20th all-time victory over Georgia and 13th in the last 17 meetings (dating back to 2006).
- The Yellow Jackets have now won three straight matches against SEC opponents.
- Tech ends the non-conference schedule with an 8-1 record. The White & Gold have entered ACC play with one or fewer losses in four of the last five seasons.
- The Jackets have won eight matches in a row, the longest win streak since 2021 (10).
- Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene led the team with 20 kills (.318 hitting) and a season-high 19 digs, her team-leading fifth double-double of the season and the 27th of her career.
- Otene was one dig shy of completing her third 20/20 double-double. She is the only Yellow Jacket in the modern scoring era with multiple 20/20 double-doubles after doing so in consecutive matches last season.
- Senior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino filled the box score yet again, making a season-high 19 kills on .317 hitting to go along with seven digs, three blocks, three aces and two assists.
- Bertolino has now made 140 career aces, the eighth most in program history and only three away from tying Margaret Gales (1986-89) for 7th.
- Senior setter Luanna Emiliano secured a season-high 45 assists while also making 11 digs for her 68th career double-double.
- Junior libero Sofia Velez delivered 13 digs in the back row. She has now made 10+ digs in all but 2 of her 88 matches played in college.
- Junior middle blocker Liv Mogridge was dominant, as usual, at the net. She made five blocks, including a solo block. Mogridge has now made at least one block per set in four straight matches and seven of nine this season.
GT VB at UGA
Photos by Tyler Rover
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 15 – UGA 25)
The first set was one to forget as UGA jumped out to an 8-2 lead and managed to hold on for the remainder of the set. Otene and Velez covered as much court as possible, each making five digs, but it wouldn’t be enough and Tech’s set streak was halted at 11 straight.
Set 2 (GT 25 – UGA 14)
Mogridge and Bertolino set the tone for the second set on the very first point, smothering a UGA attack for a block. That started a run of excellent team defense from the Jackets as they held the Bulldogs to -.147 hitting throughout the second. Tech went on a 7-1 scoring run in the middle of play, turning a 9-7 advantage into a comfortable 16-8 lead. Emiliano was on the service line for a majority of the run, using aggressive serves to keep UGA off balance. The Jackets put a bow on the set with a 7-2 run, this time with Otene running the show at the service line. Otene was in incredible form, making seven kills on .455 hitting with six digs in the set, securing her double-double before any other player on the court had reached double-digits in either kills or digs.
Set 3 (GT 25– UGA 16)
Scoring runs continued to be kind to GT in the third as Tech went on yet another 7-1 run to take control of the third, 14-7. Georgia managed to cut the lead to four (18-14) but that’s when Bertolino found her offensive rhythm. The Argentinian dominated the later stages of the set, going off for four kills and a block to lead GT on yet another 7-2 scoring run to close out the set. She finished with a team-best eight kills in the third and was responsible for Tech’s final five points. Emiliano and Otene held down the defense, each posting six digs while Mogridge contributed two blocks, including the set clinching block alongside Bertolino.
Set 4 (GT 25– UGA 14)
Tech scored the first two points of the fourth set and didn’t look back, never allowing a tie score and leading by as many as 11 points, three times (20-9, 22-11 and 25-14). Georgia couldn’t come up with any answers on either side of the ball as the Jackets out-hit UGA .522 to -.043 in one of the most one-sided sets of the season. Bertolino led the team with five kills and a pair of aces while Velez paced the back row with four digs. Larissa Mendes enjoyed her best set of the night, making three kills on four swings along with a block.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech turns the page toward Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Yellow Jackets open up the ACC schedule next weekend, hosting No. 22 SMU (Friday, Sept. 27) and No. 1 Pitt (Sunday, Sept. 29) inside O’Keefe Gymnasium. The match against SMU will be streamed on ACCNX and Sunday’s Top 15 match will be broadcast on ACC Network.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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