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Volleyball's Magical Season Ends with Elite Eight Defeat

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Box Score Season Stats NCAA Tournament Bracket

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Georgia Tech volleyball’s magical season came to a close with a 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20) defeat at the hands of No. 1 Louisville in the 2021 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship regional final on Saturday.

Senior right-side hitter Mariana Brambilla led the match with a career-high 27 kills, but Georgia Tech (26-6) hit just .152 as a team and Louisville (32-0) recorded 17 blocks in the undefeated Cardinals’ third win over the Yellow Jackets this season. With its 25-21 second-set win, Tech became only the eighth team to take a set from Louisville this season and the first to do so through four rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

As a unit, Georgia Tech moved into seventh in program history in kills within a season during the match, piling up a monstrous 1,700 kills on the year.

The Yellow Jackets’ impressive campaign comes to close with only the second NCAA Elite Eight appearance in school history and a tie for the eighth-most wins in the program’s 42 seasons.

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight vs. No. 1 Louisville

December 11, 2021 (Michelle Haas Hutchens)

How it Happened

The first set began with a pair of runs for both sides as Georgia Tech jumped in front 4-1, but Louisville retaliated with six straight points to move ahead 7-4. The Cardinals never surrendered the lead from there as the Yellow Jackets would draw within four at 19-15, but Louisville rolled onto a 25-18 set one win.

In a tight second set, the Cardinals clung to a narrow lead throughout the majority of the set up to a 20-15 advantage. The Jackets caught fire from there, winning 10 of the next 11 points to roar back as a team block clinched a 25-21 set two victory for Tech to even the match.

Set three was filled with more runs as the White and Gold took the first three points, but Louisville took six straight points to move ahead 7-4. Tech would even the match at 8 all, but a five-point Cardinal run shortly after nudged the host team ahead 16-10. The Jackets then took five of six points soon after, drawing within two at 18-16 and staying within striking distance up to a 23-21 deficit, but Louisville closed out the third set for a 25-21 win.

Once more, Georgia Tech got out to an early lead, moving ahead 6-2 before Louisville went on a six-point run to slip ahead. The Yellow Jackets would hang with the Cardinals, trailing by just four at a 22-18 Louisville lead and once again at match point behind 24-20, but the undefeated squad would move on to the Final Four with a 25-21 fourth set win and match victory.

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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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