THE FLATS – Georgia Tech volleyball (3-0, 0-0 ACC) begins the 2025 season with a spotless record after a 3-1 win over Arkansas State (1-2, 0-0 Sun Belt) on Sunday afternoon. Mimi Mambu was a dominant force on offense as she stacked 16 kills and 16 digs.
QUICK HITS
- Mambu’s double-double performance on Sunday was her third straight double-double performance which hasn’t been done since Bianca Bertolino’s 2021 freshman season against Virginia Tech (11 kills, 10 digs), Notre Dame (12 kills, 21 digs) and Louisville (11 kills, 10 digs).
- Sunday saw the freshman mark career highs for kills (16), attacks (46), digs (16), and blocks (2).
- Transfer Bianca Garibaldi supported Mambu in leading Tech’s offense as she had a career high performance with 14 kills, 21 attacks, good for a .476 attack percentage, six digs, and five blocks.
- Sofia Velez extended her 10+ dig game count to 108 games out of 114 total collegiate games with her 19 digs against Arkansas State.
- Anika Groom made her collegiate debut on Sunday and recorded nine kills, 12 digs, one block assist, one assist, and one service ace.
- Heloise Soares was Tech’s primary setter against the Red Wolves, recording 36 assists on 97 total attempts, good for a .371 set percentage.
- Sunday afternoon’s match was the 46thconsecutive sold out match at O’Keefe Gymnasium, a streak dating back to the 2021 season.
- The Jackets 58 kills against Arkansas State were the most all weekend, as was their 71 digs, and nine aces.
- Tech’s 3-1 win on Sunday marks the first win for Tech in the overall series against Arkansas State.
- In season openers under the direction of head coach Michelle Collier, Tech advances to a 30-6 record in the first weekend of the season, including a 20-8 record since 2018.
- The Jackets inch closer to their 900th program win as Sunday’s 3-1 win brings them to 897 program wins.
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 25 – ASU 27)
- Set one saw Tech get a small jump on Arkansas State before the Red Wolves were able to take the lead and force the hosting Jackets to trail 6-3. Despite battling back to tie the match six times (8-8, 10-10, 14-14, 23-23, 24-24, and 25-25), Arkansas State took set one with back-to-back kills. Garibaldi led the Jackets on offense with five kills while Noemi Despaigne and Soares recorded three each. Soares also led Tech in assists with eight while freshman Sara Toth recorded five. Set one saw six Jackets recorded two or more digs with Mambu leading the group with four.
Set 2 (GT 25 – ASU 22)
- The Jackets found themselves trailing early on in set two and slowly chipped away at the Red Wolves’ lead until a five-point run for the visitors made the match 12-6. Tech’s deficit held until the Jackets were able to piece together a five-point run of their own to tie the match 17-17. Larissa Mendes’ kill provided the Jackets with the lead for the first time in the second set (19-18). Tech retained the lead through the rest of the second set, with Mendes and Garibaldi recording kills to finish set two 25-22. Mambu boasted a .500 attack percentage, good for six kills while Groom pitched in four. Soares recorded 11 of Tech’s 14 assists in set two with Mambu, Liv Mogridge, and Danielle Tansey earning the remaining three.
Set 3 (GT 25 – ASU 21)
- Set three saw the close competition between the Jackets and the Red Wolves continue with Tech recording three more kills, one more block, one more assist, and one more service ace than Arkansas State. Tech’s set three turning point came after the Jackets outscored the Red Wolves 8-1 to make the set 14-12 after trailing since the second point of the set. Despite being the visiting Red Wolves bringing the set within two points (22-20), an attack error and kills from Mogridge and Mambu gave Tech the lead, two sets to one. For the second straight set, Mambu led the offense with five kills while contributing three digs. Groom continued to thrive in her debut, contributing one kill, one assist, one service ace, and five digs in set three.
Set 4 (GT 28 – ASU )
- The fourth set began differently as Tech established a four-point lead before forcing an Arkansas State timeout (9-5). Throughout set four, the Jackets held the Red Wolves at least two-points away until a five-point run for Arkansas State pulled the lead from Tech (22-21). After a quick Georgia Tech timeout, the hosting Jackets stacked four points on three kills to finish the Georgia Tech Classic with a perfect 3-0 record. Mambu and Groom shared the glory in set four, recording four kills respectively. Velez capped Sunday’s game with five digs alongside Soares who had five as well. Soares’ final set of the weekend saw nine final assists to bring her to 36 total on the day.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will hit the road for the first time in the 2025 season to compete in the Stacey Clark Classic hosted by No. 15 Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. Competition will start against No. 15 Purdue on Sept. 3 followed by No. 14 Kansas Sept. 4 and Bowling Green Sept. 5.
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.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.
