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No. 8 Seed Tech Sweeps The Citadel to Open NCAA Tourney

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Box Score Season Stats NCAA Tournament Bracket

THE FLATS – No. 8 seed Georgia Tech volleyball rolled past The Citadel (25-21, 25-15, 28-26) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on the way to its 14th sweep of the season on Friday night in O’Keefe Gymnasium. Yet another sweep marked the first for the Yellow Jackets in an NCAA tournament match since 2004, when the White and Gold breezed past No. 16 UC Santa Barbara.

Tech (24-5, 14-4 ACC) was dominant nearly across the board in the match, leading SoCon champion The Citadel (14-12, 7-9 SoCon) in kills (48-29), hitting percentage (.263-.165), assists (43-26), aces (4-2) and digs (42-26).

Junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann, fresh off receiving ACC Player of the Year, highlighted the match with a team-high 16 kills. Along with that, Bergmann added a pair of aces during the match, moving into a tie for ninth in program history in career aces with Jenn Beemsterboer (1987-90) as the pair own 128 apiece. The decorated outside hitter also pitched in defensively with a pair of block assists and four digs.

Junior middle blocker Erin Moss provided a steady attacking presence from inside, tallying 10 kills at a solid .471 clip to go with a couple of digs and total blocks (one solo, one assisted) on the night. Fellow middle blocker in senior Breland Morrissette anchored Tech’s defense with three block assists, surpassing 100 blocks on the season up to 101 to date. Senior right-side hitter Mariana Brambilla was a key contributor all around as well, leading the team with 12 digs while totaling 10 kills for her 10th double double of the season.

Georgia Tech moves on to the second round of the NCAA tournament having won 56 of its last 67 matches dating back to 2019. The Jackets have also won 34 of their last 39 matches on The Flats in O’Keefe Gymnasium.

NCAA Tournament Round One vs. The Citadel

December 3, 2021 (Danny Karnik)

How it Happened

In a tightly contested first set, the Yellow Jackets took their first lead at 4-3 and never looked back, avoiding trailing throughout the remainder of the set. A three-point run gave Tech some breathing room up to a 9-6 lead, but The Citadel would inch back until knotting things up at 17 all. The Jackets responded with another three straight points to jump ahead 20-17, and although the Bulldogs would trim that lead to one at 22-21, Tech once again used a burst of three to close out the set as Brambilla’s kill handed the White and Gold a 25-21 first set victory.

The Jackets were dominant from start to finish in the second set, stringing together yet another three straight points to lead early, 7-3. Georgia Tech continued to push forward from there until a six-point run blew the match open, giving the White and Gold a 20-12 lead. The Yellow Jackets finished out the set taking five of the final six points as a kill from Bergmann iced the 25-15 second set win.

Tech got off to a shaky start in the third set, trailing early until a five-point run vaulted the White and Gold into the lead, 15-14. The two sides would trade blows resulting in five tie score lines up to a 19 all deadlock, but a five-point run by the Jackets put them in the driver’s seat to close out the match up 23-19. Instead, The Citadel rallied to knot things up at 24 apiece. The two squads were tied two more times, but as the Bulldogs reached set point at 26-25, Georgia Tech fired back with three straight points as Moss and sophomore setter Bella D’Amico combined to stuff the final attack from The Citadel for a 28-26 set win and match sweep for the Yellow Jackets.

Up Next

Georgia Tech will take on No. 17 WKU in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at 7 p.m. in O’Keefe Gymnasium. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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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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