BLACKSBURG, Va. — No. 11 Georgia Tech volleyball blew by Virginia Tech for its seventh sweep of the season and first of conference play on Friday in Cassell Coliseum, resulting in coach Michelle Collier‘s 101st ACC win to become the program leader on The Flats. The Yellow Jackets (12-1, 3-0 ACC) outscored the Hokies (10-4, 0-3 ACC) by 20 in the first two sets combined on the way to the 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-21) triumph.

The White and Gold were dominant in all phases, leading the way with ease in kills (48-28), hitting percentage (.353-.198), assists (42-28) and aces (11-2).

Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene turned in the most well-rounded performance on the day with eight kills and a team-leading 12 digs. Freshman right side hitter Larissa Mendes fronted the attack, tallying 12 kills at a .440 clip. Sophomore middle blocker Liv Mogridge followed close behind with eight kills at a .467 rate, and junior middle blocker DeAndra Pierce picked up six kills of her own on a .417 hitting percentage. Senior setter Bella D’Amico led the squad with 21 assists, and freshman setter Heloise Soares came away with a career-high 13 assists.

How it Happened

Tech used a pair of five-point runs to take control in the first set, speeding ahead 11-6 early thanks in large part to back-to-back aces by senior libero Paola Pimentel and widening the gap soon after for a 16-9 advantage. The Jackets closed out the set by claiming the final four points as graduate middle blocker Afedo Manyang slammed the door with a kill for the 25-16 set one win.

The White and Gold rolled on into the second set, winning the first five points as junior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino strung together four during the stretch with three aces and a kill. Virginia Tech maintained within striking distance until yet another burst of five, including a pair of Mogridge aces, propelled the Yellow Jackets to a 19-9 lead. Once again, Georgia Tech cruised onto a set victory on a final swing of Manyang, closing out set two, 25-14.

The third set was neck-and-neck nearly throughout as neither side could separate by more than two early. The Yellow Jackets began to pull away by picking up three straight, moving ahead, 18-14. Another flurry of three gave Tech some breathing room, pushing further in front, 23-17. The Hokies would make a last-ditch effort, but the White and Gold held on to close out the set, 25-21, securing the match sweep.

Up Next

Georgia Tech will wrap up the weekend at Wake Forest (11-3, 2-1 ACC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Over the last handful of days, I’ve been able to connect with some members of Georgia Tech’s 2024 class.

Whenever Georgia Tech wins a big game, the first question always on the mind of fans is about what this might do to recruiting, if the commits were watching, etc.

While many GT commits had went into last Saturday night's matchup with Wake Forest expecting to win, given that GT was an underdog, on the road, facing off against one of the conference's best teams the last couple of years I made the executive decision to qualify this as a "big game" and began gathering reaction after finishing my re-watch.

QB commit Aaron Philo-
"This was definitely a big win! I got to watch the whole game and it was awesome. I really loved how the team never stopped fighting and how hard they play. Shows what the culture is there and I’m excited to be a part of it."

OL commit Jameson Riggs-
"I thought we looked pretty good. Defense definitely stepped up this week and the offense still looked good. Didn’t run the ball as well as we should have, and still have to play better in the second half, but definitely a great conference win."

DB commit Troy Stevenson-
"I really like how we were stuffing their run game, and how we were moving the ball on the offensive side of the ball. I am planning to make it down there either for the BC or UNC game."

WR commit Trey Horne-
"The offense has been great. It is a very exciting scheme, they take plenty of shots and let dudes make plays on the ball. I am excited to watch myself in this offense. Going to be a lot of fun."

RB commit Trelain Maddox-
"Great game, good to see another win. I feel like my playing style is a good change up, because I am a bigger back so we can go in and out and create problems for the defense once I get there."

I was surprised by how low GT was ranked in EPA/Play, but then saw the Opponent Adjusted EPA/Play chart below. We are slightly above 'average'. Progress. Progress indeed.


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I intentionally left out some stuff on his assistants because I wanted to make that a separate piece.

At the 16:30 mark he talks about us. He mentioned how successful we were in the portal last year but he points out that our defense is unique. He says that it’s a complex defense that attacks offenses from multiple angles and says he’s coached against this style only a few times throughout his career. He also says that the players have to be very smart to run this style because there is very few bust on our end. Unique offenses stand out but unique defenses do not. Tbh I didn’t know that we had a unique defense until he pointed it out. Maybe the bust we were having under Collins had something to do with it being so complex? Anyway thought it was interesting and figured I would share. As I said earlier the 16:30 mark is where you want to start, before that it’s all about BG.

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Brent Key had no clue what the uniforms were actually called so we decided to just skip over talking about that in the media session. He did say they will have Coach Curry at the game and this is a little bit of a tribute to his GT era.

Key talked about a switch they made to the schedule this year with practice. They still go full pads and full out on Tuesday and Wednesday but Thursday which used to be a shells practice is now basically a walk-through for the travel squad, but in the first 40 minutes of practice they have the developmental team (aka scout team/redshirting players) go in full pads and the rest of the team does their lifting and training. He said this is really helping with player development and they go through a mini-practice with those players who are not in the two-deep with indy and live reps with 10-minute periods. He said getting those extra 40 minutes a week has been huge for his guys because they are getting more fundamental work and technique taught to them and they could end up moving up as the season moves along instead of just redshirting and being put on the shelf for the year.

Key said that some guys that have started to show up during these Thursday sessions are DT Shymeik Jones, DE Ezra Odinjor, OT Patrick Screws (Key said he is a big man that can really move and does things the right way), OG Ben Galloway, C Gabe Fortson and TE Jackson Long.

The other area this has helped with is guys who were injured going into the season or got hurt in camp like WR Juju Lewis and WR James BlackStrain who are guys who could end up in the rotation at receiver eventually and can make up reps this lost in fall camp or the preseason with these extra sessions now.

Key said they also have added more good-on-good this week in practice to increase the competitive situations.

Key said they are trying to make practice and the prep flow in more of a W-shape now with Tuesday and Wednesday as ramp ups and Thursday as a wind-down and then ramping back up on Friday with some shells work ahead of Saturday games. Key said it is the GT part of him coming out when he came up with this instead of the old method where you went hard Tuesday and Wednesday and then ramp down on Thursday and Friday and then try to get back up on Saturday.

Key said he gives a lot of credit to Mark Smith and his sports medicine staff along with AJ Artis, Jordan Diaz and Sean Boyle who do the sports science stuff out of the weight room for helping make this work and also making the team play faster overall and helping with the preparation each week.

Key said that Jordan Williams will be out for a couple of weeks and they are targeting the post-bye week to get him back. They want to rest him and let him heal up. Key said he was really proud of how Jakiah Leftwich stepped up in the Wake Forest game and played the whole game and they didn't have to make huge swaps on the OL like they used to 2-1 for 3-1 moving guys around anymore when someone goes down. He said that is a huge sign of growth with the depth on the line.

Key said that WR Dom Blaylock is a full go now and will be a full go for the game coming off his injury.

WR Chase Lane should be out this week unless there is some big emergency at that position. They are shooting for the Miami game for him to return. He said Lane is huge in the WR room because of his mindset and maturity and he really plays and carries himself with a great level of maturity and professionalism that lifts up that room.

Key said he has a different approach with the redshirts and he isn't worried about saving kids right now because almost everyone graduates from GT now in 3.5 or 4 years and they'll have that powerful Georgia Tech degree in their pocket when they are done and can take their chances in the real world if football doesn't work out. He said he is trying to build his roster to win games and everyone on the team has to be bought into that vision and put the time and energy into building up to that goal. He brought up Patrick Screws as an example as he is up with the varsity now with Williams out this week and he has a tremendous future but if they need to play him they will play him.

Key said that Jaylon King is a shining example of what a Georgia Tech football player is and what he did academically in school and the pride he has in that is just as much as his football prowess. He said that he is a guy that has continued to overcome adversity over and over. He said that King pulled something ahead of the Louisville game and they did not think he would be able to play and somehow he was out there and playing hard banged up and he thought maybe they'd get 10-12 plays and he had to go the whole game (LaMiles Brooks was knocked out early) and that shows his true grit and toughness.

We talked about Ethan Mackenny which is for a story I'm doing this week, but he recapped the same story Ethan told yesterday about him camping and being underweight and then growing and he loves how he is developing. Key said that one thing that he loves seeing is the accountability the other OLs are teaching Mackenny and the young guys. He said that Mackenny missed a run block in practice and Weston Franklin nearly ripped Mackenny's facemask off and that is what he wants to see from his guys.

Key told a story about playing NC State his freshman year and he was the RG and they were holding a lead and he missed an assignment and gave up a TFL that was entirely on him. He said that he remembers this as clear as day even today, Ken Celaj the starting LT ripped him to shreds at the end of the game and that is when it clicked for him how important every play is and how important it is for your senior leadership to show the young guys that and how the game is supposed to be played. That is the culture he is trying to develop at GT. He said Mackenny has tremendous talent and that thing with Weston is a great sign the program is going in the right direction.

Key said practice this week has been better and he isn't one of those guys who is happy all the time. He knows how the game should be played and if they want to play that way the players have to practice that way and his expectations are extremely high for this team day in and day out. When they don't reach his expectations or reach their potential he isn't happy. He said they don't need people playing above their heads and he thinks that happened in the first games of the season, he just needs them to be the best they can be. He said it is disappointing when that doesn't happen and then unhappiness with that turns to anger and that was the strong message he sent the team last week during WF prep. It has been better this week and that will help them get the results they want.

I asked him about Dre White and Kyle Efford and the LB depth starting to emerge after years of just having three guys only. Key said it has been really good to see and something they were expecting to see as the season moved along.

Key said that once recruiting was over and the roster was set he wanted to see player development and that is why he hired Kevin Sherrer to coach LBs. He said that Sherrer is the best LB coach he has been around hands down and he is going to get the most out of these guys and develop them. He said you are seeing the adjustments being made and Kevin has done a helluva job getting what he is out of that group. He said that Sherrer is cut from the same mold as Key personality and coaching wise and they are never satisfied and want to build up the identity and standard for this team, but it is a constant work in progress.

Be careful of what you ask for…

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I’m editing because I wanted to include this article which said Nebraska got better adding Jeff Sims and we got worse losing him.

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Equal opportunity…

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No real surprise, but Mackenny and Singleton are set to burn their redshirts tomorrow against BG.

Cruz and Dickens next up having appeared in three games, they can play in one more while preserving their redshirt year.

Ethan Mackenny - 4
Eric Singleton - 4
Evan Dickens - 3
Jacob Cruz - 3
Taye Seymore - 2
Bailey Stockton - 2
Nacari Ashley - 2
Ashton Heflin - 1


Patrick Screws - 0
Gabe Fortson - 0
Zion Taylor- 0
Benjamin Galloway - 0
Elias Cloy - 0
Shymeik Jones - 0
Ezra Odinjor - 0
Nico Dowdell - 0
Steven Jones - 0
Bryston Dixon - 0
Malcolm Pugh - 0

Let's do this. Sorry for the delay, was coaching softball tonight.

I'll go as long as you have questions

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I'll add more names as needed. Working to confirm, but I am unsure if Jaden Smith is still visiting this weekend now that GT has Kirouac committed.

Okay guys, have kamado and love it for grilling and smoking. Anyone here changed over from BGE, Kamado to a pellet smoker and truly happy( no regrets) ?

As we reported about a month ago..

From GT Athletics-

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball will return to Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium this fall to host Kennesaw State and UAB for a pair of exhibition games.

The Yellow Jackets will play the Owls for a fall edition of the I-75 Challenge on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. before hosting the Blazers on Friday, Oct. 27 at 5:30 p.m.

Fall exhibitions will be open and free to the public. There will not be concessions available during each contest, but fans are welcome to bring their own snacks and drinks.

The fall games will be fans first chance of catching this year’s new-look team in action. Tech recently announced its 2023 class of 26 newcomers that is buoyed by a freshman recruiting class that has been ranked as high as top 5 in the country.

This guy is so smooth. I haven't seen that here in a while.....

My brother and I are coming over from Birmingham for the game this weekend. We are wanting to watch the noon games at a bar or brewery near the stadium. Any suggestions? I couldn’t think of any close by but figured some on here would know better than I. Thanks in advance.

I’ll avoid a Deion question.. yes you all can relax now…

How tight is Thackers leash? When would a change be made and could it be made at all during the season?

KQ- Some of you have really no clue how all this goes. Thacker was named by a few people this week as one of the national coordinators of the week. Folks need to look at the why instead of trying to just blame a coordinator every time the D or the O isn't playing as well as expected. Go back and look at the Couch Coach from last week and you will see it was really bad calls by Thacker but a lack of execution in the Ole Miss game that got them. The scheme isn't the problem.

In the last mailbag you said pushing games costs money and that’s why cash-strapped GT allowed the Ole Miss series to be played finally.

1) Any idea how much Ole Miss paid GT to repeatedly push the series multiple times when they didn’t want to play against Paul?
2) Could GT in theory at any point have said “No, we refuse to postpone” and have forced Ole Miss to either play the games as scheduled or buy their way out of the series entirely?

I’m just curious how those contracts work.

KQ- I really can't remember what they got paid to bump the game if I ever knew. Usually, there is a clause in the contract for that and you have to pay X to move the game by a certain date and more the closer to the date of the game being played. It was free money and they were games they wanted to play at the time. Ole Miss wasn't exactly great and the Alabama deal I think pre-dates Saban and is an old rival so they wanted that series. That was all done before the Notre Dame series.

I’m so ready for the Paul Johnson thoughts on the program since his retirement!!! Hope you will post it here and please don’t withhold anything back from you or him? Hope you will post it on Oct 29 after the unc game weekend?

KQ- Ha, I'm sure he would love to share his thoughts as well.

What are your thoughts on the new ACC Football schedules? I'm guessing they go with the 8-8 scenario so everyone gets to play home & away in all stadiums in 4 years.

KQ- I haven't thought about it at all. Just too busy in the season to think about stuff like that. I would like a trip to all three new schools before anything happens to the ACC good or bad.

Do scheduled opponents (not just GT, any school) invest in Rivals' message boards to glean any practice or injury intel?

KQ- Yes, everyone does opponent research. I also hold stuff back until about 90 minutes before kickoff for that reason most of the time. I'm not going to burn my sources and help give someone a tactical advantage over the school I cover at the same time.

Would it be okay if I created a injury thread? granted I would names to be effective. Also time tables would be nice.

KQ- You can create whatever you want, but I'm not going to update it for you and I think you are acting against the better interests of the program you love by doing so.

Are our coaches struggling to make halftime adjustments or are the opposing teams making better adjustments?

KQ- There have been a few adjustments here and there, but I think for whatever reason GT has not looked sharp out of the half. I thought Buster came out too aggressive on offense against Wake in the third quarter, but you are always going to get a team's best shot if they get the ball to start the third quarter and they can script something against your D.

What is your take on the playcalling since 2Q vs Louisville?

KQ- You all need to stop asking questions during the ****ing game.

At what point does Key say something about officiating this season being atrocious so far?

KQ- I'm pretty sure he was chewing some ass on the sideline on Saturday. There is nothing much he can do other than file complaints to the league office though.

I just read your pre game comments on Brooks…What has happened to him??? He was an absolute ball hawk last year. I really enjoyed watching him play and was looking for bigger and better things for him. Never saw this..,

KQ- He is not 100%, perhaps you've missed the five times he had to be helped off the field with a shoulder deal. He is now the dime back on the defense and playing limited to reps to protect his body and let him hopefully heal up some.

What’s the temperature from CBK on the ridiculous penalty disparity against Wake?

Do we unload on the ACC Refs after the game just sending the cuts up? Like the PI call from the other side of the field? The lack of holds called on their O line.

KQ- I'm sure he was pissed off, but there were also some stupid penalties as well. They did not play super clean, but about five of the flags were bad calls or should've been non-calls.

We spoke to Jaylon King, Kyle Kennard and Ethan Mackenny (his first time with us) on Wednesday.

Jay King on winning ACC DB of the Week coming off his serious injury last year,

"the main thing I took away from that was just being appreciative of being able to play again. After breaking my leg last year, I didn't know if I was going to play a football game. That was a decision I made after a couple of months of thinking if I;d actually do it again. So just thankful for the ability to still play football and being able to play at a high level on Saturday. (The award) really just made me feel appreciative of having the chance to play again and taking that opportunity to play."

King said it was very satisfying to see complimentary football being played on defense throughout the day last Saturday with the DL, LBs and secondary all making plays. The DL got great pressure, the LBs were filling their gaps and the DBs were covering and making plays on the perimeter so he thinks that is a confidence booster.

King said they practice the tip drills all the time so it was great to get a pick that way and Coach Key really emphasizes getting those tipped balls or tipping the ball to a teammate so they can secure the pick. When it happens they are prepared.

King said the new rotation at safety wasn't a big deal because he goes in with the mindset of playing the whole game each time or being subbed out some, it doesn't change his approach.

King said that Bowling Green is solid all-around and they have some playmakers and they have to be prepared for that.

King said the DBs are supposed to fill the alley and clean up things, but on certain calls they have to secure the edge as well and force everything back inside and that was a big emphasis in practice this week, securing the edge and letting the mid-field safety and the LBs fill the alleys and fit the run.

I asked him about some of the bad G5 games GT played under Collins and if he mentions that to the team this week to keep them focused and King said they always try to focus on themselves and not worry about the level of the competition. They've won these types of games and lost him during his time here so he is trying to keep everyone on an even keel coming off a big win last week and focus on getting better with what they struggled with last week.

Kyle Kennard said his penalties definitely hurt the team and he has to be better about channeling his aggression and use it more with his on-the-field production instead of unnecessary things after the play.

Kennard said it was satisfying to final rack up some sacks, but he has the same mentality every week and that game it just worked for him and things were freeing up for him and he made the plays.

Kennard said they have to watch a lot of film each week to prep for the tendencies of each type of offense as they keep seeing something different each week this season. He is looking at the OL for tells in particular and you just look at what they do well or like to do.

Kennard said the improvement of the GT OL has been very helpful for the DL and they help them get ready each week, but the big thing is they know the DLs tendencies as well so they are forcing them out of those habits because they can shut them down if they lean too hard on those things.

Kennard said the interior DLs had a big hand in his sacks last week because they pushed in the inside and got Mitch Griffis off his spot.

Last we had Ethan Mackenny making his GT media debut.

He said the first game was definitely an eye-opener as he wasn't expecting to play much and then he was called in for Corey Robinson and Corey has been a great mentor for him and helped him a lot. He said he went in during the first QT and he looked around and said to himself, "let's do this." He was good after that moment and he settled his nerves and focused on doing his job and really made it about the guy in front of him.

Mackenny said he likes the way they are running ball this year and they've done a phenomenal job with the coaches learning the right landmarks and run spots over fall camp and the summer and he had to learn pretty fast how Geep Wade wants to do things. He loves Geep and he has helped him figure out his role in the run game and there is still plenty of room for improvement with run blocking and he thinks they will continue to improve.

I asked him about his relationship with Key which dates back to a GT camp as a sophomore in HS. Mackenny said he showed up at that GT camp at 236 pounds as a smaller tackle and Key pulled him aside and told him to focus on adding weight and that he had a chance to be special if he did. He showed up the next year at 260 at the camp and got the GT offer. He is up to 292 now. He said that his relationship is a little different with Key because he has been in the same shoes that Mackenny was as a true freshman playing CFB at GT and he will pull him aside during practice and tell him to calm down because his head is on a swivel and he has taught him a lot during pass pro drills in practice.

Mackenny said he needs to improve his pass pro and he knows that and certain things in the run game as well and develop himself more in the weight room. He said the biggest thing right now is his pass pro, working with his feet and learning to hit the right spots at tackle.

On playing as a true freshman, "it has been a great opportunity for me and a great challenge too. I wasn't expecting this challenge, but when I was presented the opportunity I tried to do my best to do my part and do my role as left tackle.."

He said he couldn't have done it without the coaches, his teammates and the rest of the OL.

Mackenny said Joe Fusile has been huge for him and really helped him constantly and if he screws something up, JOe is quick to help him and in the film room with film study he has helped him a lot as well especially if he is confused by something.

Have some other content coming your way, but wanted to get this up ASAP..
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Hopefully CBK retires on his own after an amazing 25 year run.

Kyle Kennard

Jaylon King

Ethan Mackenny

I'm going to talk about the WF game, Bowling Green, the ACC basketball schedule release and our media session with Damon Stoudamire.

Drop your questions below.

Mayo is horrible regardless but here’s another reason to never buy Hellmans.

Jaylon King video interview from yesterday is below…interestingly has his Civil Engineering degree. He talks about the time going quick, but his body feels every bit of it.

For those who have not checked out the revamped ACCPM this year, it is far improved from last year. It is completely different with Pack having various ACCN (Lugenbill, Manuel, Royal, MacLain, Herzlich etc) and ABC/ESPN national analysts (Desmond Howard, Greg McElroy, Rece Davis, Sam Acho, Herm Edwards, etc) daily. They also have been doing a lot of remotes. Completely different energy and a lot of different takes. Taylor Tannenbaum still cohosting 2-3 days per week, Lugenbill one day…Tre Boston not with the program any longer.

Lots of good talk about GTFB also.

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A lot of people hated the triple option as an offensive strategy for various reasons. If I had to watch the slow mesh week after week, I would (figuratively) gouge my eyes out. As a running back, most want to be gaining speed and velocity as they hit the line. The slow mesh assumes a hole will open up, the RB will see it and the line will continue to hold their blocks. When the Deacs had Sam Hartman, they had a legit passer as well. Things will get tougher for the Deacs, in my opinion, as GT has shown how to stifle that offense.