PROVO, Utah – No. 19 Georgia Tech volleyball (4-1) secured its first ranked victory of the season on Saturday night, taking down No. 14 BYU (4-1) inside a packed Smith Fieldhouse in Provo. Spectacular team defense and an unrelenting attack from Tamara Otene and Larissa Mendes earned the Yellow Jackets a thrilling five-set victory on the road.
QUICK HITS
- Georgia Tech has defeated at least one Top-15 opponent in each of the last four seasons (since 2021) for the first time in program history.
- This was the 35th Top 25 victory in program history, the 11th of the Michelle Collier era and the
- Tech has now won four straight non-conference matches against ranked opponents after defeating No. 12 Ohio State (twice) and No. 8 Penn State last season.
- Georgia Tech is just the 10th team to defeat BYU inside Smith Fieldhouse over the last 10 seasons (since 2015).
- Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene unleashed a season-high 24 kills (4.80/set). She finishes the weekend with a team-best 41 kills (5.125/set) over just two matches.
- Otene secured her team-leading fourth double-double of the season, making 13 digs to go along with her 24 kills.
- Sophomore right side hitter Larissa Mendes produced another incredible offensive performance, finishing with 21 kills. It’s her second 20+ kill match of the young season (23 vs. New Mexico State) after only reaching the 20-kill mark once last year (21 vs. Florida St.).
- Mendes made her 21 kills on .459 hitting. She is hitting .300 or better in all three matches with 25 or more attacks in 2024.
- Senior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino filled the stat sheet, delivering her third double-double of the year with 10 kills, 13 digs, four aces and a block.
- Those four aces bring her career total to 131, tied with Amanda Medrow (1996-99) for the ninth most in program history.
- Tech set a season best with 75 digs tonight. Four different Jackets registered double-digit digs, led by junior libero Sofia Velez (16) alongside Otene (13), Bertolino (13) and sophomore setter Heloise Soares (13).
- Velez has made 10 or more digs in all five of her matches as a Yellow Jacket and in all but one of her 84 career matches played (79 matches at Trinity Valley CC (2022-23)).
- Soares recorded her 2nd-career double-double, finishing with 23 assists and 13 digs.
- Senior setter Luanna Emiliano secured 40 assists, her second 40+ assist night in White & Gold. She narrowly missed out on a double-double of her own, finishing with nine digs.
