No. 8 Seed Tech to Face No. 9 Seed Ohio State at Louisville Regional

THE FLATS – No. 8 seed Georgia Tech volleyball (25-5, 14-4 ACC) will make its way back to the Bluegrass State for the second time this season, now for the Louisville Regional of the NCAA Tournament to take on No. 9 seed Ohio State (27-5, 15-5 B1G) on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Louisville, Ky. The Sweet 16 match will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Coverage

• Thursday, Dec. 9 | No. 9 seed Ohio State vs. No. 8 seed Georgia Tech | 3 p.m. | ESPN + | Watch | Live Stats

Storylines

• With sweeps of The Citadel and No. 17 WKU in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament at home in O’Keefe Gymnasium, Georgia Tech advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004 and third time in program history.
• The Yellow Jackets received five AVCA honors in the East Coast region as coach Michelle Collier was named Region Coach of the Year for a program-high tying second time in her career, junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann became the first Jacket on record to be voted Region Player of the Year and Bergmann, senior outside hitter Mariana Brambilla and senior setter Matti McKissock were all tabbed All-Region.
• Bergmann now owns three All-Region honors and a Region Freshman of the Year award, while Brambilla matches Bergmann’s three consecutive All-Region honors. McKissock has received two All-Region honors and an Honorable Mention.
• 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 have made back-to-back tournament appearances for the first time since advancing to the Big Dance five straight years from 2000-04.
• The selection marked the second berth in the Big Dance for the Yellow Jackets under head coach Michelle Collier.
• With the selection, the Jackets have made 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.
• The Jackets are currently 12-10 in NCAA tournament matches.
• Georgia Tech earned six yearly ACC honors, highlighted by Bergmann being named ACC Player of Year. The Munich, Germany native 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. Brambilla was also unanimously named First Team All-ACC, while 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’ 25 wins this season, 15 have been sweeps, including nine in ACC play.
• The Jackets have earned a dominant aggregate sets record, leading opponents 79-26. Tech leads 21-9 in set one, 26-4 in set two, 22-8 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 56 of its last 67 matches.
• The Jackets have won 35 of their last 40 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 (15.19) while ranking second in the country and leading the ACC in assists per set (13.90). The Jackets are also currently sixth in the NCAA and second in the ACC in hitting percentage (0.299). Other notable conference numbers include ranking second in kills (1,595), second in assists (1,459) and third in digs per set (14.95).
• 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 racked up 12 ACC weekly awards on the year, the most in program history on record. The staggering tally led the league this season as Bergmann was 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 was 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 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, unanimous First Team All-ACC and AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year, 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 483 kills (4.60 per set) and 34 service aces along with pitching in on the defensive end with 265 digs and 62 total blocks (22 solo, 40 assisted). She also eclipsed 1,000 career kills this season, owning 1,179 to date.
• On a national scale, those marks currently place her 12th in the country in points per set (5.32) and 13^th in the nation in kills per set (4.60), leading the league in both categories Other notable numbers for the powerful outside hitter include ranking second in the ACC and 16th in the NCAA in points (559) while placing second in the conference and 19th in the country in kills (483).
• 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 recent AVCA East Coast All-Region and First Team All-ACC selections, continues to climb in the Georgia Tech record books as she moved up to third in career assists in program history against NC State, later surpassing 4,000 career assists against No. 17 WKU to total 4,019 to date. Now the program leader during the 25-point rally scoring era, McKissock leads the ACC and is third in the NCAA in assists per set (11.80) and 14^th in the land in assists (1,227), leading the league in both categories.
• Brambilla has earned a pair of ACC Player of the Week honors this season to go with her recent AVCA East Coast All-Region and First Team All-ACC honors. 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 1,541 to date. Currently, she’s third in the ACC kills per set (4.20), kills (441), points per set (4.65) and points (488) on the year.
• Junior middle blocker Erin Moss has been one of the country’s most efficient attackers this season, ranking second in the ACC and 17^th in the NCAA in hitting percentage at a 0.403 clip.

Up Next

The victor of the highly contested matchup between the Yellow Jackets and the Buckeyes will go on to face the winner of host and No. 1 seed Louisville against No. 16 seed Florida on Saturday at 6 p.m. Broadcast coverage will be provided on ESPNU for the Elite Eight matchup.

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