No. 8 Seed Tech Set to Host NCAA First and Second Rounds

THE FLATS – No. 8 seed Georgia Tech volleyball (23-5, 14-4 ACC) will play host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004 this weekend, welcoming The Citadel (14-11, 7-9 SoCon), South Carolina (14-14, 6-12 SEC) and WKU (27-1, 12-0 CUSA) on Friday and Saturday in O’Keefe Gymnasium. The first round will begin on Friday with WKU taking on South Carolina at 4:30 p.m., followed by the first action for the Yellow Jackets against The Citadel at 7 p.m. The winners of both contests will go on to face each other in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Coverage

• Friday, Dec. 3 | WKU vs. South Carolina | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN + | Watch | Live Stats
• Friday, Dec. 3 | The Citadel vs. No. 8 seed Georgia Tech | 7 p.m. | ESPN + | Watch | Live Stats

Tickets

Both all-session and individual round tickets for the duration of the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament sold out within 42 minutes on Monday. Although general admission tickets for the tournament matches have been sold out, 100 tickets remain available for Georgia Tech students with free admission at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. A valid BuzzCard must be displayed in order for students to receive a ticket to the match.

Parking

Fans may park in the Family Housing deck.

Watch Party

Georgia Tech will host a watch party open to the public for its first-round contest against The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.

Storylines

• Georgia Tech was slated as the No. 8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, the second highest tournament seed in program history.
• Following 2020’s run to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Yellow Jackets will make back-to-back tournament appearances for the first time since advancing to the Big Dance five straight years from 2000-04.
• The selection marks the second berth in the Big Dance for the Yellow Jackets under head coach Michelle Collier.
• With the selection, the Jackets will make their 11^th NCAA tournament appearance in program history.
• Tech’s first action in the Big Dance came in 1994 after winning the ACC regular season title. The Jackets would advance to the second round of the tournament that season and follow suit for the next pair of seasons.
• Tech reached the second round of the tournament after winning a second consecutive ACC regular season title as well as the ACC Tournament title in 1995 and placing second in the ACC in 1996.
• From 1999-2004, Georgia Tech reached five straight NCAA Tournaments, advancing as far as the Elite Eight in 2003 followed by the Sweet 16 in 2004. Over that span, the Jackets claimed three ACC regular season titles and one ACC Tournament title.
• Tech reached the first round of the tournament in 2009, and most recently advanced to the second round of the 2020 NCAA tournament a season ago.
• Georgia Tech earned six yearly ACC honors this week, highlighted by junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann being named ACC Player of Year. Bergmann became the fourth Yellow Jacket in program history to receive the prestigious award.
• Along with Bergmann’s nod for best in the league, the powerful outside hitter also garnered unanimous First Team All-ACC honors. Senior outside hitter Mariana Brambilla was also unanimously named First Team All-ACC, while senior setter Matti McKissock was tabbed First Team All-ACC as well. Senior middle blocker Breland Morrissette was named Second Team All-ACC, and freshman Bianca Bertolino was selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
• While Morrissette and Bertolino earned their first yearly ACC awards, Bergmann (ACC Player of the Year, 3x First Team All-ACC, ACC Freshman of the Year and ACC All-Freshman Team), Brambilla (3x First Team All-ACC, ACC All-Freshman) and McKissock (ACC Setter of the Year, 2x First Team All-ACC, Second Team All-ACC) each piled onto their already decorated career tallies.
• Of the Jackets’ 23 wins this season, 13 have been sweeps, including nine in ACC play.
• The Jackets have earned a dominant aggregate sets record, leading opponents 73-26. Tech leads 19-9 in set one, 24-4 in set two, 20-8 in set three and 9-4 in set four while tying 1-1 in five-set contests.
• Georgia Tech has gone on a winning streak as high as 10 matches in ACC play this season.
• Tech is 10-1 in true road matches this season, going 8-1 away from The Flats in ACC play. The .909 win percentage away from The Flats would mark the highest road winning percentage in program history should the mark remain at the season’s end. The 10 road wins are also the third highest mark in the ACC this season.
• The Yellow Jackets won nine consecutive true road matches prior to their lone defeat away from home at No. 1 Louisville, marking the best start on the road in program history.
• Going beyond 2019’s NIVC title, Tech has won 54 of its last 65 matches.
• The Jackets have won 33 of their last 38 matches on The Flats in O’Keefe Gymnasium.
• Georgia Tech boasts some of the top numbers in the country, pacing the nation in kills per set (15.12) while ranking second in the country and leading the ACC in assists per set (13.82). The Jackets are also currently sixth in the NCAA and second in the ACC in hitting percentage (0.298). Other notable conference numbers include ranking second in kills (1,497), second in assists (1,368) and third in digs per set (15.03).
• Earlier this season, the Jackets made history by handing No. 3 Pitt (No. 2 at the time) its first loss of the season in five sets.
• Georgia Tech’s triumph over Pitt marked the highest ranked win and the second top-five victory in program history. The Yellow Jackets’ previous highest ranked victory also came on the road in five sets over No. 5 Nebraska in 2003.
• Tech has racked up 12 ACC weekly awards on the year, the most in program history on record. The staggering tally leads the league this season as Bergmann has been named ACC Player of the Week four times, Brambilla owns two ACC Player of the Week honors, Morrissette recently picked up her first career ACC Player of the Week honor and Bertolino has been tabbed ACC Freshman of the Week four times.
• Bergmann is the first student-athlete in the conference to receive ACC Player of the Week four times in a season since 2015, and Bertolino currently led the league in ACC Freshman of the Week honors with five.
• Georgia Tech had at least one recipient of an ACC weekly award in eight of the 14 weeks the conference recognized winners this season.
• Bergmann has put together a decorated season week-by-week, not only being declared ACC Player of the Year and unanimous First Team All-ACC, but also racking up awards on a national scale this season being named AVCA Player of the Week, ACC Player of the Week four times, UCF Challenge MVP and to three all-tournament teams. Her AVCA honor as the best player in the nation for the week marked the first time a Yellow Jacket has received the award since Kele Eveland on Sep. 15, 2003.
• Bergmann’s numbers back up her accolades as she’s among the nation’s best in multiple categories. To date, the veteran has led the Jacket attack with 450 kills (4.55 per set) and 32 service aces along with pitching in on the defensive end with 257 digs and 55 total blocks (22 solo, 33 assisted). She also eclipsed 1,000 career kills this season, owning 1,146 to date.
• On a national scale, those marks currently place her 14th in the country in points per set (5.26) and kills per set (4.55), leading the league in both categories. Other notable numbers for the powerful outside hitter include ranking second in the ACC and 27^th in the NCAA in points (520.5) while placing second in the conference and 28^th in the country in kills (450).
• As Bergmann has spearheaded the Jacket attack, some of her biggest performances have come in the biggest moments as she earned her AVCA weekly honor and first ACC Player of the Week on the year after Tech downed No. 15 Penn State (previously No. 12) and picked up her second ACC Player of the Week recognition after the Jackets’ historic win over Pitt.
• In one of Tech’s biggest wins in program history, the heavy hitter piled up 24 kills at a solid .386 clip, including a pair of aces as well as six digs and four total blocks (one solo, three assisted) in the triumph over Pitt.
• The week before, she compiled 30 kills against Notre Dame, the highest total by any Yellow Jacket this season and second most by a player in the ACC to date.
• Along with Bergmann, Bertolino has staked her claim as one of the top freshmen in the conference this season as she not only made the ACC All-Freshman Team, but also won ACC Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks for her first two weeks of her collegiate career and has since collected three more. The Argentinian also was selected to two all-tournament teams in nonconference play and is up to nine double doubles this year.
• McKissock, coming off a recent First Team All-ACC selection, continues to climb in the Georgia Tech record books as she moved up to third in career assists in program history against NC State, totaling 3,947 to date. Now the program leader during the 25-point rally scoring era, McKissock leads the ACC and is third in the NCAA with 11.79 assists per set while also leading the conference and ranking 23^rd in the nation in total assists with 1,155.
• Brambilla has earned a pair of ACC Player of the Week honors this season to go with her recent First Team All-ACC honor. The Brazilian owns four career ACC Player of the Week honors and six total ACC weekly awards after being tabbed ACC Freshman of the Week twice in her first season on The Flats. The explosive right-side hitter has skyrocketed into the top 10 in program history in career kills, currently ranking eighth with 1,518 to date. Currently, she ranks third in the ACC in kills per set (4.22) and points per set (4.67).
• Junior middle blocker Erin Moss has been one of the country’s most efficient attackers this season, ranking third in the ACC and 25^th in the NCAA in hitting percentage at a 0.392 clip.

Up Next

Should the Jackets defeat The Citadel in the first round and claim victory once more over the winner of South Carolina and WKU in the second round, Tech would advance to the NCAA regionals, set to be held Dec. 9 and 11. Regional play will be held at one of four non-predetermined campus sites, with details being announced on Dec. 5.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets 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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