THE FLATS – No. 17 Georgia Tech volleyball (13-4, 5-3 ACC) returns home to O’Keefe Gymnasium to serve as host to NC State (10-6, 5-3 ACC) on Friday at 7 p.m. before welcoming Wake Forest (11-8, 3-5 ACC) Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Jackets are coming off their second straight perfect week of the season, which featured the first reverse sweep in O’Keefe Gymnasium since Nov. 29, 2018, and a Friday night sweep, both against the Clemson Tigers.
Parking
Standard parking will be available in the McCamish, East O’Keefe and Family Housing lots for Friday’s match against NC State. Half of the McCamish lot will be closed, but all other lots will be fully available for Sunday’s match against Wake Forest.
Clear Bag Policy
Georgia Tech has implemented 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/
Week Schedule
- Friday, Oct. 25 | No. 17 Georgia Tech vs. NC State | 7 p.m. | ACCNX | Watch | Live Stats
- Sunday, Oct. 27 | No. 17 Georgia Tech vs. Wake Forest | 1 p.m. | ACCNX | Watch | Live Stats
Storylines
- The Jackets have improved their floor defense in recent matches, making 18.45 digs/set across the last three matches, a massive improvement over the 13.24 digs/set in all other matches.
- This is 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 210 wins (2nd most behind Shelton Collier), 116 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 the only Power 4 program to have three players averaging over 3.00 kills/set: Bianca Bertolino (3.38), Tamara Otene (3.33), and Larissa Mendes (3.32). UTRGV is the only other program across Division I to have such a balanced offense.
- Setter Luanna Emiliano is one of the most experienced setters in college volleyball, with 4,116 career assists – 12th most among active DI players – and 1,271 career digs, the 6th most among active Division I setters.
- Senior Bianca Bertolino is 18th in the nation and 10th among P4 players with .52 aces/set this year. She has cracked the GT Top 10 for career aces (T-6th -148) and is on pace to set a modern scoring era record for aces/set for a career.
- Bertolino leads the Yellow Jackets in kills (206), kills/set (3.38), and service aces (32).
- Freshman Logan Wiley saw the first action of her career during set three of the Yellow Jacket’s home match against Clemson on Wednesday night. In game one against the Tigers, Wiley recorded four kills, two service aces, and three block assists.
- Wliey’s mid-week performance earned her a starting spot in Friday’s rematch against Clemson, where she had an impressive 11 kills, one assist, two solo blocks, and five block assists.
- The Argentinian became the 6th Yellow Jacket in the modern scoring era to achieve 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs, notching her 1,000th career kill in the victory over Virginia.
- Tamara Otene continues to contribute towards Georgia Tech’s offensive efforts and sits just behind Bertolino in kills (203) and kills/set (3.33).
- Junior libero Sofia Velez has continued to find her place in the Yellow Jackets lineup, marking an impressive 5.25 D/set last week. She has made 10+ digs in 92 of 96 career matches.
- Velez is currently riding a five-match streak recording 10+ digs a game. This season, Velez has recorded single digit digs in only three matches (7 vs. Florida, 5 vs. SMU, and 6 vs. Pitt).
- Georgia Tech has won six straight matches against NC State, dating back to the 2018 season which saw the Yellow Jackets sweep the Wolfpack in O’Keefe Gymnasium.
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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