THE FLATS – No. 14 Georgia Tech volleyball begins its 2024 campaign this weekend with the GT Invitational, featuring matches against UCLA, New Mexico State and Coastal Carolina from inside O’Keefe Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets return 12 players from last season’s Sweet 16 team, the second Sweet 16 appearance in the last three seasons.
Parking
Standard parking will be available in the McCamish, East O’Keefe and Family Housing lots.
Clear Bag Policy
This year, O’Keefe Gymnasium is implementing a clear bag policy. Any outside items brought into the facility must be contained within a clear bag. For more information on Georgia Tech’s policy, go to https://ramblinwreck.com/clearbag/
GT Invitational Schedule
- Friday, Aug. 30 | New Mexico State vs. Coastal Carolina | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
- Friday, Aug. 30 | No. 14 Georgia Tech vs. UCLA (RV) | 7 p.m. | ACCNX | Watch | Live Stats
- Sunday, Sept. 1 | Coastal Carolina vs. UCLA (RV) | 2 pm | Live Stats
- Sunday, Sept. 1 | No. 14 Georgia Tech vs. New Mexico State | 4 p.m. | ACCNX | Watch | Live Stats
- Monday, Sept. 2 | No. 14 Georgia Tech vs. Coastal Carolina | 4 p.m. | ACCNX | Watch | Live Stats
Storylines
- The Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 14 in the AVCA DI Coaches Preseason Poll.
- It is the fifth-straight season the Yellow Jackets have received a preseason Top 25 ranking, the longest such streak in program history.
- The poll marks the 71st consecutive week that GT Volleyball has been in the Top 25, dating back to the 2020 fall preseason poll.
- Tech was picked to finish top five in the ACC by the league’s coaches for the fifth consecutive year, coming in at No. 4
- Senior outside hitters Tamara Otene and Bianca Bertolino were each selected preseason all-ACC.
- The Jackets return five starters from last year’s Sweet 16 team including the team leaders in kills (Otene – 406), hitting percentage (Liv Mogridge – .433), aces (Bertolino – 62) and blocks (DeAndra Pierce – 64).
- All four Tech representatives from the 2023 ACC postseason awards are back for more in 2024: Bertolino and Otene (1st Team All-ACC) and Heloise Soares and Larissa Mendes (All-Freshman Team).
- Georgia Tech now boasts seven athletes from outside the United States, (38.9 % of the roster) tied with Wisconsin for the most international roster among Power 4 programs.
- This will be head coach Michelle Collier’s 11th season on The Flats, tying AVCA Hall of Famer Shelton Collier for the longest tenured coach in program history. At GT, she has 197 wins (2nd most behind Shelton Collier), 111 ACC victories (program record) seven NCAA Tournament match victories (program record) & is the first coach to have led the Jackets to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
- The Yellow Jackets are 31-13 all-time in season openers and 8-2 under Michelle Collier. Opening weekends have been kind to the Jackets under Coach Collier, with the team boasting a 25-5 record in the first weekend of the season under her leadership, including a stellar 15-1 record since 2018.
Series Notes
- Georgia Tech is looking for its first-ever victory over UCLA with the Bruins leading the all-time series, 3-0. The two programs are meeting for just the second time this century after UCLA defeated GT in the second weekend of the 2021 season, in Long Beach, Calif.
- This will be the first meeting between Georgia Tech and New Mexico State.
- The Jackets will be facing Coastal Carolina for the 15th time on Monday. Tech leads the all-time series 10-4. It will be the first meeting since 2016, when GT escaped with a 3-2 win, up in Conway, S.C.
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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