First Tech double-double for Sofia Velez
O’KEEFE GYMNASIUM — #15 Georgia Tech Volleyball cruised to a senior night 3-0 sweep over the Syracuse Orange (25-16, 25-15, 25-17) in the first of two games on campus tonight before men’s basketball takes on uga. Tech moves to 19-5 (11-4 ACC) on the season in a win that went about as expected as Syracuse is a program very much in a rebuild phase, currently sitting at 14-13 (2-13 ACC).
In good news, the game that went as expected resulted in a plethora of good numbers across the board for Tech as four players hit 10+ kills led by Tamara Otene with the game high 16 and Liv Mogridge/DeAndra Pierce/Bianca Bertolino all hit 10.
Sofia Velez got a rare libero double-double, getting 10 assists to go with her 11 digs for her first as a Jacket. Luanna Emiliano also recorded a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
The whole game, we were on watch as Bertolino entered the game needing two aces to tie Georgia Tech’s modern scoring ace record, but only hit one in the match during the second set.
Of every Tech hitter with more than one attack, all but Bertolino hit at least .500, Pierce leading the charge with an elite .714% on 14 swings. Otene’s 16 kills came at a .500% clip with only five errors. Tech for the most part was able to place balls whre they wanted to in system the whole match.
For senior night, Bertolino, Otene, Pierce, Goolsby, Emiliano, Fischer, and Harper were all recognized before the match and all played.
On the injury front, Heloise Soares is still out after hand surgery but has been out of a hard cast for at least a couple weeks. Larissa Mendes did again dress but only played a few points as this was not a match to risk reinjuring her leg.
Set 1
Tech quickly ran ahead on a six point run which included three consecutive Bertolino serves where the reception turned into overpass kills for Tech, prompting Syracuse’s first timeout very early at a 6-2 game. Tech got their lead to seven at 10-3 with a four point run. Lauren Sanden came in for Mogridge for a rotation which coincided with an improvement in Cuse’s ability to get Tech scrambling defensively, getting the game as close as 13-11 before Tech went on a 6-1 run where Cuse called timeout at 19-12 GT. Tech finished the set on a 5-0 run with a great net save dig from the ground then kill by Leia Harper.
Otene’s nine kills led all in the set, plus Sofia Velez recorded five of Tech’s 11 assists as Cuse was targeting Emiliano on first balls.
Stats via Georgia Tech
Set 2 (1-0 GT)
Cuse was able to make a quick counter to Tech’s 3-1 lead to actually get a lead…for one point before Otene and Bertolino kills started a four point run for Tech to an 8-5 lead. Cuse shrunk the lead back to one after a successful challenge at 8-7 before a couple of Pierce kills contributed to a five point run to go up 13-7. Another four point run really broke the set open late to put Tech up 18-13. Mendes made her first appearance of the game during a late 6-2 rotation with Goolsby as Tech finished off the set 25-15.
Stats via Georgia Tech
Set 3 (2-0 GT)
Tech wasted no time putting the set out of reach, scoring the first eight points of the set with three Bertolino kills. Cuse chipped away at the lead to hold it within 7-8 points throughout the set, including a three point run down 10 to pull back to that margin. Tech’s offense was able to maintain a good variety of kills by Mogridge, Bertolino, and Otene with minimal stress en route to the sweep at 25-17.
Stats & Game Leaders
Stats via Georgia Tech
Game Leaders
Kills: Tamara Otene (GT) – 16
Assists: Luanna Emiliano (GT) – 30
Digs: Luanna Emiliano (GT) – 12
Points: Tamara Otene (GT) – 17.5
Hit % (min. 10 attempts): DeAndra Pierce (GT) – .714
Blocks: Veronica Sierzant (CUSE) – 5
Takeaways
- For now, Tech is sitting about where we expected them to be. We’re 5th in the ACC behind SMU, who we theoretically could overtake, but we do have looming issue of playing #1 Pitt and #7 Stanford in the final week of the season. In talking with our radio guy Kurt Hoyt after the match, he brought up there’s a case the ACC could send 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament depending on how the bubble shakes out. Even if our record doesn’t look noticeably better than 2023’s, the fact we were able to maintain our position in the conference even as it got stronger is a great sign.
- Now, will we host 1st round NCAA Tournament games? That will likely be a question we can’t answer with any confidence until we see how the final week of games shake out since us, Stanford, Louisville, and Pitt all play two of the other that week. Our current in-house projections have us hosting, but the last two seasons we’ve been right on the bubble and have been given effectively the 17th seed in the overall #1 seed’s quadrant. For me, anything that isn’t that specific bracket spot is a win for me.
Georgia Tech Volleyball next plays Sunday, November 17 at 1pm vs. Boston College.