THE FLATS – No. 17 Georgia Tech volleyball (15-4, 7-3 ACC) extended its now six-game winning streak after defeating Wake Forest (12-9, 4-6 ACC) 3-1 on Sunday afternoon in O’Keefe Gymnasium. Bianca Bertolino recorded her fourth consecutive double-double (19 kills, 15 digs), bringing her to 10 on the season. Luanna Emiliano brought her double-doubles to seven on the season as well with her 51 assists and 10 digs.
QUICK HITS
- This was the 40th consecutive sold out match at O’Keefe Gymnasium, a streak dating back to the 2021 season.
- Emiliano’s 51 assists were a new career-high, replacing her previous high of 48 set against Clemson.
- Sofia Velez has now recorded 10 or more digs in 94 of her 98 collegiate matches and has recorded 10 or more digs in the last seven consecutive matches, after recording 20 against the Wake Forest.
- Velez also saw a career-high seven assists against the Demon Deacons, surpassing her previous high of five most recently set against Clemson.
- Liv Mogridge helped lead the Yellow Jackets’ offense with a career-high 14 kills, which replace her previous career-high of 13 set back in the 2022 season against UVA.
- Bertolino’s three service aces against Wake Forest marked the eighth time this season the senior has recorded 3+ services aces in a match.
- Sunday’s win over Wake Forest is the seventh consecutive win for the Yellow Jackets against the Demon Deacons.
- As a team, Tech had the third-most kills in a match this season (64), which was the most kills in a four-set match this season.
- The Yellow Jackets also recorded the most assists in a four-set match this season (59) and the most digs in a four-set match this season (72).
- The last time Georgia Tech and Wake Forest went to four sets was back in the 2018 season, when the Yellow Jackets fell on the road 3-1.
VB vs Wake Forest
Photos by Tyler Rover
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 25 – WFU 22)
Georgia Tech jumped out in front early in set one but Wake Forest quickly came back to tie the game 4-4. The Demon Deacons took control of set one and forced the Yellow Jackets to play catchup until Tech was able to tie the match at 14 apiece. From there, the two teams traded off points with neither team able to get space from one another. Kills from five different Yellow Jackets, including back-to-back kills from Tamara Otene secured the 25-22 set one win. Mogridge and Bertolino led Tech’s offense through set one with five sets each while DeAndra Pierce, Logan Wiley, and Otene recorded three respectfully. Emiliano contributed 15 of Tech’s 19 assists in set one. Velez (9) and Bertolino (7) were exceptional on defense sharing majority of Tech’s set one digs.
Set 2 (GT 22 – WFU 25)
Similar to set one, both Tech and Wake Forest exchanged points, seeing the score tied 11 times and having seven lead changes. The Yellow Jackets came up short in set two as an unusual amount of errors from Tech resulted in a 25-22 win two win for the Demon Deacons. Otene posted four kills in set two while Mogridge, Pierce, and Wiley recorded three apiece. Emiliano earned all 11 of Tech’s assist in set two.
Set 3 (GT 25 – WFU 15)
With the match tied one set apiece, the Yellow Jackets and the Demon Deacons went almost point-for-point until Georgia Tech went on a five-point run to lead the third set, 13-7. From there, Wake Forest was unable to piece together more than one-point at a time, without the help of a Tech error. Bertolino found her stride in set three, providing eight of Tech’s 16 kills. For the second straight set, Emiliano posted another 11 assists while Velez contributed the other four.
Set 4 (GT 25 – WFU 20)
An early five-point run for Tech put the hosting Yellow Jackets in the driver’s seat in set four. Wake Forest brought the game back within two points (12-10) to which Georgia Tech responded with two four-point runs, broken up by one-lone point for Wake Forest (20-11). Regardless of a four-point run from Wake Forest to make the game 21-16, Tech continued to push offensively to secure its sixth consecutive ACC win. Otene concluded her solid performance with six kills as Bertolino finished with four final kills in set three. Emiliano recorded her fourth straight set with double-digit assists (14) to finish with 51 on the day.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will hit the road to travel to Durham, N.C. to take on Duke Friday at 6:30 pm before finishing the week playing UNC in Chapel Hill Sunday at 12 pm. Both matches will be live streamed on ACC Network Extra.
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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