THE FLATS – No. 17 Georgia Tech volleyball (12-4, 4-3 ACC) took their portion of the home-and-home against Clemson (8-10, 0-7 ACC) on Wednesday night, with the Yellow Jackets’ first reverse sweep since the 2022 season.
QUICK HITS
– This was the 38th consecutive sold out match at O’Keefe Gymnasium, a streak dating back to the 2021 season.
– The Jackets pulled off a reverse sweep, winning the third, fourth and fifth sets to get the win. It was the first reverse sweep since Nov. 6, 2022 at Florida State and the first reverse sweep in O’Keefe since Nov. 29, 2018, in the NIVC opening round against USF.
– It was the first reverse sweep of an ACC opponent, at home, since Sept. 27, 2015 vs, Boston College.
– Senior Bianca Bertolino secured a career-best 23 kills, her first 20+ kill match of the season. She also made 16 digs for her 7th double-double of the year and 32nd of her career.
– Bertolino added an ace, giving her 145 over her Yellow Jacket career, the 7th-most in program history and just three shy of tying Monique Mead (20019-12) for sixth.
– Freshman Logan Wiley came off the bench to start the third set, recording her first career kill (four), ace (two), dig (one) and setting a new season high in blocks (three).
– Senior Tamara Otene posted her sixth double-double of the season and 28th of her career, making 20 kills and 18 digs, along with a pair of aces.
– Senior Luanna Emiliano recorded 48 assists and 17 digs, both season bests. That secured her 72nd career double-double, the most of any active Division I player.
– Junior libero Sofia Velez recorded a career-best 19 digs, she has recorded 10 or more digs in 91 of her 95 collegiate matches.
– Senior Lauren Sanden set a career high with nine digs tonight, especially impressive since most of her action came as a serving substitute.
– Junior Liv Mogridge set a season high with 10 kills, playing much of the final three sets on the right side.
– Tech made a season-high 82 digs tonight. It’s the second 80+ dig effort of the season.
– The Jackets have made 277 digs over their last four matches (17.31 digs/set).
– This was Georgia Tech’s 15th straight victory over Clemson dating back to 2015, the longest active winning streak over any ACC opponent.
VB vs Clemson
Photos by Tyler Rover
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 24 – Clemson 26)
The Yellow Jackets and the Tigers traded points deep through the first set, with Georgia Tech never surrendering a lead through the 20th point. Clemson took the lead 21-20 to force Georgia Tech on its heels and boil the game down to who could score two consecutive points first. Tamara Otene led the hosting Yellow Jackets through set one with five kills while Liv Mogridge and DeAndra Pierce tallied three respectively. The Tigers attacking percentage bested the Yellow Jackets’ by a mere four percent in set one.
Set 2 (GT 27- Clemson 29)
Georgia Tech struggled to find momentum on offense as Clemson took an early lead in set two, reaching a set-high lead of four points, three times (8-4, 10-6, 23-19). A late four-point run for the Yellow Jackets tied the game 23-23 before the teams went point-for-point, with three of Tech’s points coming from Clemson errors. Clemson took set two with a kill and a service ace to make Georgia Tech drop set two. Otene continued to be Tech’s point person with six kills, paired with five digs in set two.
Set 3 (GT 25 – Clemson 21)
Set three saw three lead changes between the Yellow Jackets and the Tigers with Georgia Tech establishing a quick lead before Clemson took the lead, 9-8. Luanna Emiliano’s kill to tie the game 10-10 kick started the Yellow Jackets’ offense and began what would end up being an eight-point run resulting in a 17-10 game in favor of the home team. Georgia Tech retained the lead through the remainder of the third set. Bertolino contributed nine points towards the Jackets third set win. Freshman Logan Wiley recorded her first career point in the third set with an early service ace to bring the Yellow Jackets to life.
Set 4 (GT 25 – Clemson 16)
Wiley used her third set momentum to get Georgia Tech on the board in the fourth set before Otene and two Clemson attacking errors provided the Yellow Jackets with an early lead. An aggressive Tech offense continued to blitz the Tigers’ defense while remaining defensively sound and keeping a minimum of a four-point difference. Bertolino was a dominant presence in set four with six kills and two digs.
Set 5 (GT 19 – Clemson 17)
With the game pushed to the fifth and final set, Tech and Clemson resumed trading points until the Yellow Jackets went on a seven-point run kick started by a kill from Emiliano. The Tigers battled back to bring the game within three points, but an attacking error along with a one final kill from Bertolino solidified the Yellow Jackets’ fourth ACC win of the season.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets travel up I-85 for the away half of the home-and-home against Clemson. First serve is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18 from Jervey Gym in Clemson, S.C. The match will be livestreamed 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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