Tamara Otene’s double-double lifts No. 19 Tech to 2nd sweep of the season
PROVO, Utah – No. 19 Georgia Tech volleyball (3-1) wasted little time on Friday night, dispatching of Lipscomb (2-3) in three sets with identical scores: 25-16, 25-16, 25-16. Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene was the catalyst from the very start, finishing with 17 kills on .517 hitting and 12 digs as the Yellow Jackets claimed their second straight sweep and head coach Michelle Collier’s 200th victory at Georgia Tech.
QUICK HITS
· This was head coach Michelle Collier’s 200th victory at Tech. She already holds program records for the most ACC victories (111) and NCAA Tournament victories (seven), as she now becomes just the second Tech head coach to reach the 200-win plateau. (AVCA Hall of Famer Shelton Collier – 271 wins (1991-2001)).
· Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene had a career night, finishing with 17 kills, the most she’s ever had at Tech in a three-set match, .571 hitting and 12 digs.
· It is her third double-double of the young season and the 25th of her career.
· This marks the first match in Otene’s career in which she has hit 10+ kills on .500+ hitting in a sweep.
· Tech won the second set 25-16. The Jackets have won all four 2nd sets so far in 2024 by an average score of 25-13.
· Junior libero Sofia Velez led the team with 13 digs. She has made 10+ digs in all four of her starts at Tech and in all but one of her 83 career matches played (79 matches at Trinity Valley CC (2022-23)).
· Senior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino finished with 10 kills and three aces. She has now made at least one ace in each of her first four matches on the season for the first time in her All-American career.
· Bertolino and Otene combined for 27 kills, four more than Lipscomb could muster as a team (23).
· Junior middle blocker Liv Mogridge imposed her will at the net, finishing with three blocks, including a pair of blocks in GT’s 8-0 scoring run to finish off the match.
· Senior setter Luanna Emiliano led the way with 33 assists (11.0/set), her highest average as a Yellow Jacket.
SET BY SET
Set 1 (GT 25 – Lipscomb 16)
The Jackets got off to a great start thanks to a pair of aces from Mogridge to make it 3-1 out of the gates. The Jackets maintained that pressure from the service line, forcing Lipscomb into uncomfortable attacks and
ping back with furious swings of their own. The Bisons managed to cut the lead to 13-10, only for Tech to respond with a 6-2 run, returning to the comfort of a seven-point lead (19-12). Another late kill from Otene helped seal the set, 25-16, a score that would become awful familiar over the next hour of play. Otene was all over the court from the start, finishing the first set with six kills and six digs while hitting .500 and adding an ace while Tech held Lipscomb to .000 hitting.Set 2 (GT 25 – Lipscomb 16)
Lipscomb seemed intent on keeping it close in the second set, working to a 7-7 tie in the beginning. But all that went away thanks to three excellent runs of serve from Emiliano, Bertolino and sophomore setter Heloise Soares. The three of them sent Tech on a 10-3 scoring run, putting the Jackets in control, 19-11, a lead they would maintain to the end of the set, 25-16. GT’s serving led to a multitude of free balls from Lipscomb, helping Tech hit a staggering .444 as a team in the second. Emiliano and Soares did a great job of spreading the offense with five different Jackets registering multiple kills. None more impressive than Otene, who led the offense with five kills on seven swings (.714 hitting). For the second set in a row, she led the team in digs, this time only needing three, tied for the most with Velez.
Set 3 (GT 25– Lipscomb 16)
The Bisons came out firing in the third, jumping in front, 8-12. But Tech showed its resilience, tying the match back at 13, thanks in part to yet another strong service run from Soares. The set was still in doubt, up 17-16, when Bertolino stepped up to the service line to lead Tech on an 8-0 scoring run, vanquishing all Lipscomb hopes and handing them a third straight 25-16 result. Bertolino made back-to-back aces on that run to make it 22-16, before Otene polished off her career performance with kill No. 17 on the final play. Velez came into her own in clutch time, delivering eight digs in the third while Mogridge and sophomore right side Larissa Mendes combined for a pair of blocks in the final scoring run.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech will face its first Top 20 match of the season on Saturday night (9 pm ET) against No. 14 BYU. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
