THE FLATS – No. 9 Georgia Tech volleyball (22-5, 13-4 ACC) sent its seniors off with a win, defeating Syracuse (2-25, 0-17 ACC) in three sets (25-12, 25-20, 25-13) inside O’Keefe Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. Seniors led the Jackets in kills (Afedo Manyang – 8), assists (Bella D’Amico – 16) and aces (Liz Patterson – 2) in the victory.
QUICK HITS
- The Yellow Jackets have secured their 13th conference victory of the season, marking the fifth straight season Tech has won at least 13 ACC matches, the longest streak in program history.
- This is the 28th consecutive sellout at O’Keefe Gymnasium dating back to the 2021 season.
- The Jackets have swept Syracuse twice in the same season for the first time in program history.
- Tech made nine aces as a team tonight, marking the fourth time this season GT has averaged at least 3 aces/set in a match and the first time since Sept. 29 (at Virginia Tech).
- Senior defensive specialist Liz Patterson made two of those aces, tying her career high. She has now registered multiple aces in four matches over her career, including three this season.
- Senior opposite Afedo Manyang led the team with eight kills on .400 hitting, the third time this year she has made at least 2.5 kills/set while hitting at or above .400.
- Sophomore middle blocker Liv Mogridge was back in her pre-injury form, posting eight kills on .636 hitting with a team-high six blocks.
- Mogridge has made at least 7 kills in 13 of her 15 matches this season, hitting at least .400 in 10 of those matches.
- Her six blocks in three sets of work (2.00 blocks/set) is her second highest average of the season, behind her Yellow Jacket debut performance, 2.33 blocks/set at USF (8/25/23).
- Senior setter Bella D’Amico led the offense with 16 assists, freshman Heloise Soares added in 12.
- Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene made a team-high seven digs in just two sets of action. She is just seven digs shy of 300 this season in her quest to become the first Jacket to achieve a 300 kill/300 dig season since Marianna Brambilla’s All-American year in 2021.
- Junior defensive specialist Lauren Sanden served her first career aces today, making two in the third set.
- Junior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino made two aces as well today, bringing her season total to 60. She is the sixth Jacket in program history to achieve 60 aces in a single season and just the second to do so in the modern scoring era (Julia Bergmann – 64 aces – 2019)
- Junior middle blocker DeAndra Pierce recorded a pair of solo blocks, tying her career high, set earlier this year at Wake Forest (10/1).
VB vs. Syracuse (11/19/23)
Set By Set
Set 1 (GT, 25-13): Patterson started the set out with strong serving, recording an ace on the first point and leading the Jackets to a 4-0 advantage off the jump. Tech cruised through the remainder of the set, never allowing Syracuse to close the gap any more than three points (4-1). The Jackets offense could do no wrong, finishing with 11 kills and no unforced errors. The lone error charged to GT came off of a block from Syracuse. Tech would finish the set hitting .588 to Syracuse’s .000, led by five kills on five swings from Bertolino. Otene led the defensive effort, making three digs while Mogridge made a pair of blocks, teaming up with D’Amico and Manyang to do so.
Set 2 (GT, 25-20): Another string of strong early serves from Patterson helped the Jackets get in front, 4-1. It seemed the second would follow a similar pattern to the first, with the Jackets going in front, 13-5, but the Orange battled back, cutting the lead to as little as two points, 19-17, before Otene and Mogridge took over the offense, making two kills each to help the Jackets close out the set with a five-point cushion. Manyang led the way with four kills, along with three each from Otene and Mogridge. Tech’s passing hit a lull in the second but the efforts on the service line helped make up for it as four different Jackets registered an ace.
Set 3 (GT, 25-13): Syracuse kept the start of the third close (9-9) as the Jackets emptied the bench. Once the Jackets found their rhythm, they went on a 16-4 run to take the set by 12 points, including a 9-1 scoring run to end the set. Sanden was the catalyst at the service line, serving throughout the 8-0 scoring run at the end of play, including recording the first two aces of her career. Junior opposite Laura Fischer was excellent in the set, making four kills on .500 hitting to pace the offense, alongside four more kills from Mogridge. The Jackets defense was up to standard in the third, finishing with 17 digs, led by five from Paola Pimentel and four from Sanden.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech will play in their final regular season game on Wednesday at 5 p.m., at No. 4 Louisville (23-4, 14-3 ACC). The match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Competitive Drive Initiative Turn 2
Looking to build on the success of last year’s Competitive Drive Initiative, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation and Georgia Tech athletics are partnering once again to launch Competitive Drive Initiative Turn 2. CDI Turn 2 has a goal of raising $2.5 million in new gifts to the Alexander-Tharpe Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund by Dec. 31, and Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Foundation will match eligible gifts to accelerate the impact for Tech athletics. Like last year, not only will gifts to CDI Turn 2 be matched, but so will the contributor’s benefits in the way of A-T Fund giving levels and priority points. To learn more and contribute online, visit atfund.org/turn2.
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