Career high day for Bertolino, breakout day for Logan Wiley
Beginning back to back matches against our ACC travel parter in Clemson, #17 Georgia Tech Volleyball reverse swept the Tigers 3-2 (24-26, 27-29, 25-21, 25-16, 19-17) in one of the weirdest, longest matches Tech has played in recent memory, with three of five sets requiring extra points. It’s Tech’s first reverse sweep win since 2022 when Tech beat Florida State in Julia Bergmann’s historic 38 kill game. Tech moves to 12-4 (4-3 ACC) on the season while Clemson remains winless in seven ACC games.
Other records were set in the match. Bianca Bertolino hit 23 kills to eclipse her single-game career high, and also moved past Annika Van Gunst in career kilIs, now at 1,030. Tamara Otene also hit 21 kills, marking the first time multiple Jackets hit 20+ kilIs in a match since last year when those two plus Larissa Mendes all hit 20+ against Florida State.
Part of why this game went to five sets was because Larissa Mendes was out with a leg injury that has been intermittently plaguing her throughout the season, a huge blow as she’s the most efficient hitter on the team right now and is one of the best right side hitters in the country.
“We didn’t have Lari. Last week we were getting a rhythm and finally getting some mometum…We had to readjust ourselves and figure it out. It took a couple matches and really feel like that Virginia match we were moving and in synergy and in the way we wanted them to work. Again, we’re shuffling and figuring out the best lineup for what we’re going to do on top of not playing our best,” said Georgia Tech head coach Michelle Collier after the game.
Tech hit only .048 in the first set despite leading for most of the set, letting a four point lead slip away. That and the second set looked very rough with Mendes not out there, notably in the passing game where Tech was rarely hitting their spots where they wanted to translate into offense.
“I think there were a lot of things that didn’t feel right on the court. And we lost the first set by two points, so we had our chances…[Clemson] was siding out at almost 80%. They haven’t sided out at that efficiency before, so it was a great game for them and they did a lot of things at a high level that they hadn’t done in the past couple matches,” said Collier.
Late in the second set, Tech went on a critical four point run to tie it at 23-23 after a timeout, and from there it was the first time Tech started to play like their usual selves.
“All in all, [I’m] really proud of us working collectively to find a solution to commit. Sometimes when you’re down a couple players, matches are going to go that way and the only thing you can want from your team is to keep fighting,” said Collier.
Freshman middle blocker Logan Wiley had her breakout game of her young career, entering the game in the third set and immediately hitting her first career ace, then later in the set landing her first solo block and first kill on consecutive points. Her entry into the game was a massive gamechanger and put Tech on the front foot in the latter half of the match.
“[Logan] came in and we were really able to exploit some things that we against their defense that she’s good at. It was a good match for her to come in and be comfortable. Liv did a good job on the right side slowing down some of their pinhitters. It allowed our outsides to have more open space, and they started taking better swings. Nice how it all came together,” said Collier
The win keeps Tech’s win streak over Clemson alive, which now has lasted 15 straight matches dating back to 2016. This was the first 3-2 match the teams have played since 2018,
How It Happened
Set 1
Tech largely looked just a half beat out of sync with each other, which surely was in part due to having Leia Harper and Lauren Sanden splitting the first 21 points in the right side/back row role. While Clemson never took a lead, Tech was only able to land a couple regular, in-system kills. After the 8-8 tie, Otene hit a beautiful placement shot against her body to her right, then a service error + net violation gave Tech a 12-9 lead before Clemson’s first timeout.
After Bertolino was solo blocked from the back row soon after the timeout, Tech got their first three point run of the match, stretching the lead to 15-12, and futher again up 18-14 after Bertolino landed a fantastic drop shot.
From there, Clemson hit a 5-1 run to tie it at 19-19 with Tech’s only point coming from a service error and three of Clemson’s from Tech errors. It stayed back and forth all the way to 24-24 with six combined attack errors in ensuing the 10 points played, Tech unable to find a reliable passing game. Clemson nearly took the set 25-23 via challenge but were unsuccessful, eventually taking the set after Tech let a ball drop at the net 26-24.
Set 2 (1-0 Clemson)
Clemson kept right where they left off, taking a 4-2 lead and playing the best in-system volleyball either team had shown all night. Tech’s passing continued to cost them opportunities to establish consistent offense. It wasn’t until down 11-7 did Tech really get something working with a normal kill by Harper and then a block assist with Pierce to make it 11-9 Clemson. Collier put in a 6-2 rotation with Ashlyn Goolsby/Laura Fischer, and that run of points still couldn’t bring Tech closer by the time they came out down 16-13.
Tech had a chance to tie it down 18-17, but again a string of bad passes took them completely out of the point, letting Clemson pull away again up 23-19. After Tech called timeout there, they finally started playing their usual brand of volleyball, going on a four point run to tie it at 23. Clemson kept Tech in it with multiple service errors to push the set to extra points before an Ayah Dailey kill and Bertolino reception error sealed it for Clemson 29-27.
Set 3 (2-0 Clemson)
An Emiliano ace gave Tech their first lead at 2-1 since the 20-19 mark in the first set, soon followed up by freshman middle blocker Logan Wiley’s first apperance in ACC play, making her mark with her first career ace to make it 6-4. Clemson countered with a three point run to tie it at 7-7, going back and forth to 10-10.
Things really started on the next point, the longest of the match thus far where we even tried a triple block before Bertolino landed the winning kill. Wiley then got her first solo block of her career on the next point, right in the middle of the court where Tech so often has had problems blocking. And to make it better, he landed her first career kill on the next point (which yours truly caught in the media area!) to make it 13-10 as part of a seven point run. Clemson rallied a little bit near the end, but the gap was enough as two Bertolino kills helped win the set 25-21 for Tech.
Set 4 (2-1 Clemson)
Wiley came out swinging to start the 4th, absolutely murdering a ball on the first point for her second kill of the match. Tech got an early three point run to make it 4-1, then Bertolino hit a couple hard kills to make it 7-3 and force Clemson’s first timeout of the set.
Wiley again landed a eye-catching kill to double up Clemson at 8-4, starting a 6-4 run where Tech’s offense played arguably it’s best volleyball all evening with a couple great kills from Otene and from Mogridge playing out of position at right side, eventually forcing Clemson’s second timeout down 14-7.
A four point run doubled the lead again at 18-9 with Bertolino hitting seemingly any kill she wanted. Another Wiley kill gave Tech a 20-10 lead before Bertolino’s 20th kill of the evening made it 23-11. Clemson managed to go on a little run but was far too late before Tech took the set 25-16.
Set 5 (2-2)
Tech kept the offensive power working with an opening kill by Mogridge and two Otene kills before Wiley landed her second ace of the match to force Clemson’s first timeout down 4-1. Otene’s 18th kill of the match halted a potential tying Clemson point to make it 6-4, then Bertolino’s 21st kill on the next point pushed the lead back to three. She then landed her second block of the game to stretch the lead to 9-5.
A 3-0 Clemson run forced Tech’s first timeout of the set, and eventually Clemson’s offense came around to tie it at 12-12. An unsuccessful Collier challenge kept a 13-13 tie, continuing a series of five more ties to 17-17, during which Otene reached 20 kills on what was a severely broken point that Tech somehow saved.
AT 17-17, Bertolino hit her career high 23rd kill of the match, follwed up by her lone ace to complete the reverse sweep 19-17.
Stats & Game Leaders
Stats via Georgia Tech
Game Leaders
Kills: Ayah Dailey (CLEM) – 30
Assists: Katherine Sandt (CLEM) – 63
Digs: Devan Taylor (CLEM) – 25
Points: Ayah Dailey (CLEM) – 31
Hit % (min. 10 attempts): Indigo Young (CLEM) – .368
Blocks: Liv Mogridge (GT)/DeAndra Pierce (GT)/Kate Hansen (CLEM) – 4
Takeaways
For now, we have a new lineup: “That’s the lineup that we’ll probably move forward with. We got everybody in their strengths and not too many responsibilities for Logan, which is important for her to stay simple. We need to simplify what she’s good at,” said Collier. For however long Mendes will be out, finding this lineup is incredibly crucial during this run of matches where Tech cannot afford to be upset.
This game is Clemson’s if they could hit serves: 18 service errors. With how close this match was, they took away so many chances they could’ve had to put away this match before Tech finally got into a rhythm late in the second set. Now, Tech knows what gameplan they can use to put Clemson on their heels. This number I’m sure will not sit well with their coaching staff.
#17 Georgia Tech next plays Friday, 3pm at Clemson on ACCNX.
ESPN