No. 23 Tech Defeats No. 17 Purdue 3-1 on the Road

THE FLATS –  No. 23 Georgia Tech volleyball (4-0, 0-0 ACC) began their first road trip on a high note after downing No. 17 Purdue (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) 3-1 on Wednesday evening. Preseason All-ACC honoree Larissa Mendes had a solid showing during day one of the Stacey Clark Classic with 17 kills, a .593 hitting efficiency, and two blocks.

QUICK HITS

• Mendes’ 17 kills surpassed her previous season high of eight kills against Wofford while also surpassing her previous season best attack percentage, .160, set against Arkansas State with a .593 attack percentage against No. 17 Purdue.
• Against Purdue, the junior right side saw her most kills recorded since the 21 she recorded against No. 14 BYU in the 2024 season.
• Ital Lopuyo helped Mendes lead Tech’s offense with a career high 12 kills, surpassing her previous high of eight kills, set three times in the 2023 season. Lopuyo had 12 kills on 22 swings and boasted her highest attack percentage since 2023 (.500).
• Sofia Velez led the Jackets defensively with a team high 20 digs for her 109^th game recording 10+ digs out of 115 collegiate games. Mimi Mambu also recorded her fourth straight game with double digit digs (10).
• Heloise Soares and Sara Toth shared the work load setting for the Jackets with Soares leading in assists with 25 and the freshman right behind her with 19.
• Of Tech’s four matches so far this season, Soares has recorded no less than 19 assists and averages 7.20 assists per set.
• Toth’s 19 assists on Wednesday were a career high, surpassing her previous high of 16 set against Ole Miss (8/30/25). Her .432 set percentage was also a career high and the best percentage for a setter so far this season for Tech.
• Two solo blocks from DeAndra Pierce and one from Soares marked Tech’s most solo blocks recorded so far this season.
• The 3-1 win over No. 17 Purdue was not only the first road victory of the season, but the first ranked victory of the season and the highest ranked win for the Jackets since their 3-0 sweep of No. 13 Florida last season in McCamish Pavilion.
• Tech played game one of the Stacey Clark Classic in front of its largest crowd of the season so far (2,415 people).
• Wednesday’s win makes the Jackets 1-1 overall against the Boilermakers.
• The Jackets inch closer to their 900^th program win as Wednesday’s 3-1 win brings them to 898 program wins.
• In its first four matches, Tech has only dropped 3/12 total sets played which is the lowest number of sets dropped in the first four matches since 2023.

SET BY SET

Set 1 (GT 25 – Purdue 21)

• Despite claiming the first point of set one, Tech found itself trailing early until a four-point scoring run which featured kills by Lopuyo and Mambu and an ace from Velez tied the set 7-7. After exchanging the lead back and forth, the Jackets were able to outscore the Boilermakers 5-2 to take the lead as well as some wiggle room from the home team. Tech held the lead through the remainder of the first set, gaining even more space from Purdue after a four-point run made the match 23-17. Noemi Despaigne put the nail in the coffin in set one with the final kill. Of the Jackets who recorded kills in set one, all five recorded more than two kills respectively with Despaigne leading with four kills on five swings. Velez led the team on defense with eight digs while Bianca Garibaldi had two block assists and Soares had one solo block and one block assist.

Set 2 (GT 25 – Purdue 22)

• The Jackets found themselves fighting to get back after Purdue led through the first half of set two. A three-point run capped by Toth’s ace made the match 13-13 before Tech took the lead, 15-14, for the first time in set two off a Purdue attack error. The Jackets retained the lead through the remainder of set two regardless of the Boilermakers tying the game three additional times before set point. Set two saw Tech share the love on offense with kills being dispersed across six different Yellow Jackets. Toth led the group in assists for the second straight set after recording six in set one and two respectively. Velez, Garibaldi and Toth all recorded one service ace apiece.

Set 3 (GT 20 – Purdue 25)

• Despite seeing its highest number of kills in the match in set three (14), the Jackets dropped the set 25-20. Set three saw Tech immediately take a 4-0 lead and force an early Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers were able to slowly chip away at the Jackets’ lead and tie the set at 11 apiece before a block took the lead. Both teams traded points and the lead until a five-point run from Purdue forced the Jackets to play catch up. Mendes (2), Lopuyo, and Garibaldi all contributed late kills but the Boilermakers made the match 2-1 as they ultimately took set three. Mendes and Lopuyo led the offense with four kills respectively. Soares boasted a .435 assist percentage as she earned 10 assists on 23 total attempts.

Set 4 (GT 25 – Purdue 17)

• The final set saw the Jackets sport a .355 attack percentage compared to the Boilermakers .216 attack percentage. In addition to Tech’s increase in precision on offense, Purdue recorded eight attack errors, three reception errors, and two service errors to help the Jackets take set four, 25-17. Eager to finish the match in four sets, Tech began on a three-point run before Purdue matched their run and the two began trading points until they were locked at 9 points each. The next two points went to the Boilermakers but it was the Jackets who got found a rhythm and went on to outscore Purdue 9-1. Purdue was unable to avoid errors as five of Tech’s final seven points came from Boilermaker errors. Garibaldi and Mendes recorded two blocks respectively while Soares and Velez had four digs apiece. Mendes was unmatched in set four as she recorded eight kills on 10 swings with a .800 hitting percentage. Velez and Mambu capped their Wednesday night performances with four digs respectively.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets will remain in West Lafayette, Ind. to compete in the Stacey Clark Classic hosted by No. 17 Purdue Sept. 4-5. Tech will face off against No. 15 Kansas Sept. 4 before concluding its time in Indiana against Bowling Green Sept. 5.  Both remaining games are set to be streamed on B1G+.

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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