THE FLATS – Georgia Tech volleyball (16-13, 11-9 ACC) dropped its final regular season match of the of year with a 3-0 finish against No. 4 Pitt (26-4, 18-2 ACC) on Saturday inside O’Keefe Gymnasium.
QUICK HITS
- The final regular season match of the year saw Noemi Despaigne pace the Yellow Jackets’ offense with nine kills.
- Despaigne finished the regular season with 205 kills overall, good for fourth on the team, and 165 kills in ACC play, good for third on the team.
- Fellow freshmen Mimi Mambu and Anna Fiedorowicz recorded eight kills respectively in Saturday’s match. Mambu finished the regular season leading the team in kills overall (282) while Fiedorowicz finished leading the team in kills in conference play with 235 of her 250 total kills coming against an ACC team.
- Sofia Velez recorded her 21st match of the season with double digit digs. Her 12 digs on Saturday bring her to 126 games recording 10+ digs out of 139 total collegiate games.
- Compared to her previous performance against the Panthers, Velez recorded four more digs, maintained her 1.000 serve percentage and one again only had one reception error.
- Heloise Soares capped regular season play just over the 1,000 mark for assists (1,007) after recording 28 against Pitt.
- Bianca Garibaldi’s three blocks against Pittsburgh brought her to 133 total blocks this season, establishing a new modern-scoring era record for blocks in a single season. She surpasses Asia Stawicka’s record of 131 blocks in the 2010 season.
- Saturday’s match was the Jackets’ 11th match up against a top-25 team and its eighth match up against a top-10 team.
- The afternoon match on The Flats marked the 58th consecutive sold out match at O’Keefe Gymnasium, a streak dating back to the 2021 season.
Photos vs. Pittsburgh
Photos by Danny Karnik
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 23 – PITT 25)
- Set one was the closest set of the match with both the Jackets and the ranked Panthers recording 13 kills respectively, but Pitt holding the .041 advantage as far as attack percentage. The match began with Pitt quickly establishing an eight-point lead (11-3) and forcing Tech to call a timeout. Tech’s resiliency brought the set within five-points before a scoring run comprised of three kills, one block, and one error tied the set 22-22. Pitt went on to score three of the final four points to take set one, 25-23. Fiedorowicz led Tech’s offense through set one with four kills along with one dig and one block. DeAndra Pierce contributed three kills while Garibaldi, Mambu, and Despaigne gave two apiece to Tech’s 13 set one kills. Soares had a strong start with 11 assists to open the match, as did Velez with five digs and one assist.
Set 2 (GT 19 – PITT 25)
- Set two saw the Jackets get the jump on the Panthers and force Pitt to work its way to an 8-7 lead. Going into the media timeout, Tech found itself trailing 15-12 before going on to use both its timeouts to respond to Pitt scoring the hosts, 6-2. Both teams continued to trade points, but it would be Pitt’s .370 attack percentage and five blocks along with Tech’s high number of attack errors that would cause the Jackets to drop set two. Despaigne helped lead both teams on offense with six kills on 12 swings. Soares saw her best numbers of the match in set two with 14 assists and a .452 assist percentage. Velez once again led the group in digs while Pierce, Garibaldi, Mambu, and Despaigne pieced together two blocks.
Set 3 (GT 7 – PITT 25)
- Saturday’s third set saw the Jackets commit numerous attack errors while being faced with seven blocks and a .409 attack percentage from the Panthers. Set three began with Pitt establishing a five-point lead (7-2) and forcing Tech to call an early timeout. Despite claiming the next kill following the timeout, the Panthers went on a seven-point run (14-3). Tech would go on to fall 25-7 with Fiedorowicz claiming the final kill for the Jackets. Mambu earned 60% of Tech set three kills while Soares did the same for assists, with Despaigne and Sara Toth recording assists as well. Velez earned four of Tech’s five set three digs.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will participate in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Selection Show. The show will be broadcast on Sunday (Nov. 30) at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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.
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