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.
BYU Nike Invitational Schedule
- Thursday, Sept. 5 | No. 14 BYU vs. Lipscomb | 9 p.m.
- Friday, Sept. 6 | No. 19 Georgia Tech vs. Lipscomb | 9 p.m. | ESPN+ | Watch | Live Stats
- Saturday, Sept. 7 | No. 14 BYU vs. No. 19 Georgia Tech | 9 pm | ESPN+ | Watch | Live Stats
Storylines
- Tech is coming off a 2-1 weekend in the GT Invitational, featuring wins over New Mexico State and Coastal Carolina after dropping the opening match of 2024 to UCLA in five sets.
- The Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 19 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX DI Coaches Poll.
- The poll marks the 72nd consecutive week that GT Volleyball has been in the Top 25, dating back to the 2020 fall preseason poll.
- Georgia Tech 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 199 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.
- Senior Bianca Bertolino had a tremendous start to her season, posting a pair of double-doubles (vs. UCLA and New Mexico State) while racking up a team-best 47 digs (tied with libero Sofia Velez). Bertolino’s 47 digs is the most by any Power 4 outside hitter.
- The Jackets are the only Power 4 team, and one of 10 across Division I, to have three players at 35+ digs after three matches – Bertolino and Velez each have 47 and Tamara Otene made 36.
- Sophomore right side Larissa Mendes is off to yet another hot start. She set a new career high with 23 kills in Tech’s four-set victory over New Mexico State last Sunday, the most kills by a Georgia Tech underclassman since three-time All-American and Olympic medalist, Julia Bergmann, made 31 against Lipscomb back in 2021 (April 14, 2021 – NCAA Tournament Round 1 in Omaha, Neb.).
- Mendes made those 23 kills on .500 hitting, her fourth career .500+ hitting performance. She led the team with 149 kills in non-conference matches last season.
- Setter Luanna Emiliano is one of the most experienced setters in college this season, the UTRGV transfer owns 3,663 career assists (9th most among active DI players) and 1,142 career digs, the 5th most among active Division I setters.
- This is GT’s first opportunity against a ranked opponent this season, searching for the program’s 35th victory over a Top 25 program.
Series Notes
- This will be the fourth-ever meeting between Georgia Tech and Lipscomb with the Jackets winning all three previous meetings. The last match took place in the first round of the 2020/21 NCAA Tournament, in Omaha, Neb. with GT advancing in four sets.
- GT swept BYU in the only previous meeting, back in 2022, inside O’Keefe Gym. Bertolino led the team with four aces in that match with Otene leading the team in digs (9) that night as well.
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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