Michelle Collier’s 200th win as a Jacket
In their first meeting since the first round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament, Georgia Tech Volleyball swept the Lipscomb Bison 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-16) in their first of two games on BYU’s campus for the BYU Nike Invitational. Tech had nearly no stress throughout the match, taking care of each set with ease with plenty of production from their key players.
Tamara Otene finished with her 3rd double-double of the season with a game high 17 kills and second best 12 digs. Tech libero Sofia Velez outpaced her in digs with 13. Tech moves to 3-1 on the season after dropping their season opener in a heartbreaker to UCLA.
History was made for head coach Michelle Collier, earning her 200th win as the Georgia Tech head coach in her 11th year at the helm.
1st set
Liv Mogridge created Tech’s first gap with a pair of aces on bad serve receive, which Larissa Mendes also took advantage of en route to a 7-2 lead where Lipscomb called an early timeout. Mogridge again was relevant, cleaning up a quick kill and saving a piont that should’ve been a free point for Lipscomb on an overpass getting Tech to 12-6. Lipscomb had a three point run before Otene put a stop to that and added another kill to go up 15-10. Lipscomb had a successful challenge on a point that was a Mendes kill, but Tech quickly grabbed back that advantage with a Pierce kill and a Bison hitting error, forcing Lipscomb’s second timeout with Tech up 18-12. Tech finished off the set with a three point run to win 25-16 off a Lipscomb attack error.
2nd set (1-0 GT)
Neither side could hold serve for about 10 points before finally Tech won their on on Sofia Velez’s serve off a Bertolino kill. Both Mendes and Otene hit pummelling back row kills to create a three point lead and force Lipscombs first timeout of the set up 10-7. Bertolino got her first ace to put Tech up 12-8. Emiliano and Mogridge linked up on back to back points, getting Mogridge fantastic looks, but only managed to nail one of them for a point at 13-8. Heloise Soares and Laura Fischer came in for the first 6-2 impelmentation, and immediately Soares put great sets for DeAndra Pierce and Otene kills to force Lipscomb’s second timeout down 17-10. Tech’s run went to four at 19-10, from which the Bison had a three point run too but Tech easily took the set from there on a couple Otene kills to win 25-16.
3rd set (2-0 GT)
The third also started with a series of back and forth points up to 5-5, but Lipscomb this time found a working groove faster than Tech, going on a three point run on some good serving and poor receiving by the Jackets to go up 8-6. They held that two point lead and grew it on an Otene service error to go up 11-8, forcing Tech’s first timeout of the entire game. Mendes got stuffed on a block out of the timeout, but Tech then went on a three point run with Soares and Fischer back in the game to get it to 12-11. Some more back and forth including a Fischer block and Pierce kill got it to 15-15. Then, the longest point of the match occured including two super impressive digs from Velez before the Bisons hit a service error for Tech’s first lead since being up 5-4.
Mendes in a moment of sweet redemption got a block of her own out of the time out, giving Bertolino a forceful low ten after it landed. That gave Tech a 17-15 lead with momentum going in their direction. A big Otene swing getting through a double block put Tech up 19-16, forcing Lipscomb’s second timeout. Little did the Bison know they were completely done for, as it was Bertolino’s time at the service line, where she landed two aces as part of an eight point run for Tech to close out the match 25-16.
Stats & game leaders
Stats via BYU
Game Leaders
Kills: Tamara Otene (GT) – 17
Assists: Luanna Emiliano (GT) – 33
Digs: Sofia Velez (GT) – 13
Points: Tamara Otene (GT) – 19
Hit % (min. 10 attempts): Tamara Otene (GT) – .517%
Blocks: Meg Mersmen (Lipscomb) – 4
Takeaways
This was my first game I’ve been able to catch this year since the gold/white match, and I was super pleased with what I saw from Otene and Mendes. Both are swinging with more power than last season and didn’t get caught in ruts like they were somewhat prone to last season. To be fair, Lipscomb didn’t exactly pose a defensive threat (so, so many balls were allowed to drop between defenders), so all of Tech’s hitters pretty much had their way, but it’s clear both Otene and Mendes are in a better spot physically then they were last season.
With BYU coming up, I’ll be curious how much cleaner they play compared to how UCLA went. Tech had their number last season, but it will take the best match Emiliano has played in her short Tech career to put Tech in a solid position to get a big road win.
On Emiliano, she was very solid, but she had a few fantastic link ups with Liv Mogridge as well, who also looks to be moving with more freedom than last year now that she’s had a full offseason to recover from her knee injury. If those two can create consistent offense when Liv is on the front row, that’s going to get Tech’s offense to a much more dangerous position than it was in last season.
Georgia Tech Volleyball next plays tomorrow at BYU at 9pm on ESPN+.