THE FLATS – No. 20 Georgia Tech volleyball (11-4, 3-3 ACC) completed a perfect weekend in O’Keefe Gymnasium by sweeping Virginia (14-3, 4-2 ACC) in front of another sold-out crowd: 25-20, 25-16, 25-21. Senior Bianca Bertolino recorded her 1,000th career kill in the second set as the Yellow Jackets secured their second sweep of the weekend.
QUICK HITS
- This was the 37th consecutive sold out match at O’Keefe Gymnasium, a streak dating back to the 2021 season.
- Bertolino reached 1,000 career kills in the second set. She becomes the 7th Yellow Jacket in the modern scoring era to reach four-digits and just the sixth to reach 1,000 career kills and digs (1,007 kills and 1,149 digs).
- Bertolino added an ace in the third set to bring her career total to 144, the 7th most in program history and just four behind Monique Mead (2009-12) for sixth.
- True to form, Bertolino made 12 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and 31st of her career.
- As a team, the Jackets collected 62 digs, a new season-best for a three-set match. It’s the most digs Tech has had in a conference sweep since 2022 (63 at Notre Dame – Sept. 30, 2022).
- Senior setter Luanna Emiliano delivered her second-straight double-double, making 27 assists along with a team-best 15 digs. She has now made 71 double-doubles over her collegiate career.
- Sophomore opposite Larissa Mendes led the Jackets with 15 kills on .323 hitting, joining Bertolino and Tamara Otene as the only Jackets to record 15+ kills in a sweep this season.
- Mendes and Bertolino were remarkably efficient, combining for 27 kills .350 hitting
- Junior libero Sofia Velez made 13 digs. The Colombian transfer has now made 10 or more digs in 90 of her 94 career college matches.
- Georgia Tech extends its winning streak against Virginia to eight matches and lead the all-time series 43-22.
GT Volleyball vs. UVa
Photos by Danny Karnik
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 25 – UVA 20)
The Yellow Jackets controlled play for the opening set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead and never letting go. Mendes was instrumental in the fast start, going off for four kills and an ace in the opening 10 points played. The Cavaliers fought back within one point (10-9) only for Tech to reestablish its cushion with a 5-0 scoring run. Virginia tried for another comeback (21-19) but the Jackets showed they were equal to the task as Otene iced the set with her fourth kill. Otene had a strong opening set, finishing with four kills and four digs. Four Jackets registered multiple kills, headlined by five from Mendes, thanks to some nice distribution from Emiliano and Ashlyn Goolsby.
Set 2 (GT 25- UVA 16)
The Jackets brought the momentum with them into the second set, showing off an efficient offensive attack and making high quality serves to keep Virginia off balanced. Tech scored the first three points before going on 4-0 run to establish an 8-2 advantage right out of the gates. Virginia wouldn’t be able to cut the lead to any less than three for the remainder of the set as GT enjoyed one of its most complete sets of ACC play. Bertolino (4), Mendes (4), Leia Harper (2) and DeAndra Pierce (2) all made multiple kills and Velez made six digs as the Jackets out-hit Virginia .300 to .111.
Set 3 (GT 25 – UVA 21)
The Wahoos refused to go quietly, leading to a slugfest of a third set. Both teams showed off some incredible floor defense, combining for 59 digs in the third set alone – more than the first two sets combined (46). Both sides did a good job of keeping scoring runs to a minimum throughout much of the set, leading to a 19-19 score, the 13th tie of the set. Tech showed off its conditioning, playing error free volleyball from that point on, despite the physical style of play, and won six of the final eight points to send the home crowd home happy. Five different Jackets made 5+ digs in the set: Bertolino (8), Emiliano (7), Otene (7), Velez (5) and Mendes (5) as Tech finished with 34 digs as a team. Offensively, the Jackets relied on their three-headed monster of Mendes (6 kills), Bertolino (4 kills) and Otene (3 kills) with Otene delivering the final blow.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets have a quick turnaround, hosting Clemson (8-9, 0-6) on Wednesday night inside O’Keefe Gymnasium. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
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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