No. 23 Tech Falls to No. 15 Kansas

THE FLATS – No. 23 Georgia Tech volleyball (4-1, 0-0 ACC) marked its first loss of the 2025 season after falling in four sets to No. 15 Kansas (3-3, 0-0 Big 12) on day two of the Stacey Clark Classic in West Lafayette, Ind.

QUICK HITS

• Larissa Mendes led the Jackets in kills in back-to-back games after recording nine against No. 15 Kansas.
• DeAndra Pierce saw a season high six kills on Thursday, surpassing her previous season high of five, set against Wofford (8/29/25).
• Anna Fiedorowicz also recorded six kills, good for a career high in kills as well as a career high .455 attack percentage and a career high four digs.
• Sofia Velez’s 16 digs against Kansas not only led the Jackets defensively for the fifth straight game this season but now sits with 110 games recording 10+ digs out of 116 total collegiate games.
• Freshman Sara Toth recorded her first collegiate attack while also recording 16 assists, one service ace, and six digs.
• Heloise Soares led Tech’s setters with 24 assists, marking her fourth straight match with 20+ assists, along with one service ace and seven digs.
• Thursday’s match saw Tech’s second most total attempts this season (133)
• Tech’s first matchup against Kansas since 1993 shifted it to an overall 1-1 record.

SET BY SET

Set 1 (GT 17 – Kansas 25)

• Both teams struggled on offense in set one with Kansas barely having the edge with a .278 attack percentage but also six attack errors. Set one began in a close race until the Jayhawks went on a nine-point scoring run that the Jackets could not come back from. Despite a late six-point run to make the match 22-17, two errors and a kill gave set one to Kansas. Mendes led the Jackets with three kills while Pierce also found herself with double digit kill in set one. Noemi Despaigne recorded her second solo block of the season during set one while Bianca Garibaldi and Mendes recorded their first block assists of the game.

Set 2 (GT 18 – Kansas 25)

• The Jackets saw an improved .303 attack percentage in set two while the Jayhawks also saw an improved .412 attack percentage. Set two began with neither team putting more than a three-point gap between one another until Kansas pieced together a three-point run to make the set 19-14. Kills from three Jackets and a Jayhawk error brought Tech to 18 points but ultimately fell in set two. Five Jackets pitched in multiple kills with Garibaldi, Mendes, and Anika Groom leading the set with three apiece. Mimi Mambu had an exceptional defensive set with a team high 11 receptions, four digs, and one solo block.

Set 3 (GT 25 –Kansas 22)

• Set three saw Tech’s best attack percentage of the match (.382) along with its most kills of the match (15) and Kansas’ most kills of the match (18). The Jackets offense came out strong establishing an early, at one point, five-point lead over the Jayhawks. Tech maintained the lead and didn’t allow Kansas closer than three points for the remained of the set. The freshmen led the team through set three with Fiedorowicz recording 5 kills and Groom recording four. Fiedorowicz and Groom also led the Jackets in digs in set three with three respectively. Toth and Soares shared the work in set three with seven assists apiece.

Set 4 (GT 14 – Kansas 25)

• In the fourth set, Tech and Kansas exchanged the lead with both piecing together multiple scoring runs. The set took a turn as the Jayhawks went on an eight-point scoring run to make the set 20-12. Kills from Mendes and Despaigne capped the Jackets scoring as the Jayhawks went on to take the fourth set 25-14. Garibaldi led Tech through the last with two kills on three swings, while Soares had another five assists and Velez another six digs.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets will conclude their time in Indiana on Sept. 5 against Bowling Green at 1 p.m. The final match of the Stacey Clark Classic is 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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