CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Georgia Tech volleyball added to its post season academic honors as Bianca Garibaldi, Heloise Soares, and Sophia Velez were named ACC All-Academic.
For Garibaldi and Soares, this is their second academic accolades of the season after being named to CSC Academic All-District back in December. The honor is the first academic honor from the conference for all three of the honorees.
Garibaldi maintained an exceptional GPA while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in business administration. On the court, she competed in 107 sets across 29 matches during her first season on The Flats. Garibaldi emerged as one of the Yellow Jackets’ most efficient and aggressive attackers, leading the team with a .417 hitting percentage. She also set a new modern-era program record with 139 total blocks, including 13 solo stops. Her standout season earned her Second Team All-ACC recognition following the regular season and AVCA All-Region honors ahead of Tech’s 2025 NCAA Tournament run.
Soares was one of just two Yellow Jackets to start all 30 matches and play all 112 sets through her junior season, while maintaining a strong GPA in pursuit of her bachelor’s degree in business administration. The Brazilian setter served as Tech’s primary distributor and a key presence at the net, recording 1,087 of the team’s 1,408 total assists. She averaged 9.71 assists per set with a .417 assist percentage. Soares also added 25 kills—tying her career high nine times—and finished the season with 48 blocks, including six solo blocks. Nationally, she ranked just outside the top 50 in both total assists (53rd) and assists per set (59th).
Velez was one of four Yellow Jackets to see action in every set of the 2025 season. She began the season with a top-program performance in the form of a career high 30 digs in Tech’s sweep of Wofford. Her 30-dig performance to start the season earned Velez her first ACC honor as she was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week. She continued to have an exceptional senior season as she went on to finish the season recording double-digit digs in 22 of Tech’s 30 total matches.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.
