OXFORD, Miss. – Upon No. 9 Georgia Tech volleyball’s 2-0 start to the season on the way to an Ole Miss Invitational tournament crown, senior outside hitter Julia Bergmann was named tournament MVP and to the all-tournament team alongside graduate middle blocker Breland Morrissette as voted on by the tournament coaches on Monday.
The Yellow Jackets met their lofty expectations as a top-10 team through opening weekend, downing tournament host Ole Miss, 3-1, before sweeping No. 17 Illinois. Georgia Tech overcame a slow start against the Rebels thanks in large part to Bergmann’s historic performance. The White and Gold had no trouble with the Fighting Illini, earning their first sweep and ranked victory of the season after outscoring Illinois by 18 combined points in the final two sets of the sweep.
Leading the way for Georgia Tech throughout the tournament was Bergmann, who garnered MVP honors after piling up 45 kills at a .389 clip with 19 digs, three aces and four total blocks. With those numbers, she currently leads the nation in kills per set (6.43) and points per set (7.21). The vaunted outside hitter took the season by storm, racking up a career-high 33 kills while hitting .459 and pitching in defensively with eight digs and a pair of blocks to propel the Jackets over the Rebels. The 33 kills tied for the fifth most in a single match in program history as only four former Yellow Jackets on seven separate occasions had previously achieved the feat. Bergmann followed up by leading Tech’s attack once more against the Fighting Illini, notching her first double double of the season behind team highs of 12 kills and 11 digs along with a pair of blocks. On the weekend, the Brazilian bomber also surpassed 1,200 career kills. The decorated Yellow Jacket continues to rewrite Tech’s record books as she moved up to seventh in program history in career aces with 133 to date.
Anchoring the White and Gold defensively was Morrissette, who led the team with 10 total blocks while adding 14 kills at a .310 clip on the weekend. The steady presence in the middle stuffed four attacks and picked up six kills in Tech’s season-opening win over Ole Miss before tying her career high of six total blocks to go with eight kills in the sweep of No. 17 Illinois.
Up Next
The Jackets will make their official return to O’Keefe Gymnasium hosting the GT Invitational, where they’ll battle Dayton (RV) on Friday at 8 p.m., Arizona State on Saturday at 5 p.m. and FIU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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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