THE FLATS – No. 5 Georgia Tech volleyball (6-0) erupted against No. 10 BYU (5-2) for its fourth sweep (25-20, 25-21, 25-14) of the season over its first top-10 opponent this year on Thursday night in O’Keefe Gymnasium. After a couple of slow starts early in the first pair of sets, the Yellow Jackets drubbed the Cougars by double digits in the final set.
Tech earned its second ranked victory in dominant fashion, now racking up multiple ranked wins in a single season in back-to-back years. The Jackets had previously not achieved the feat since 2003. The top-10 win also marks the first in the regular season for Tech since the White and Gold downed No. 2 Pitt on the road for the highest ranked win in program history. Tech’s prior top-10 regular season win also came in 2003 over No. 5 Nebraska.
The undefeated White and Gold outmatched BYU nearly across the board, owning the advantage in kills (42-32), hitting percentage (.292-.181), assists (35-28) aces (8-3) and digs (37-30).
Senior outside hitter Julia Bergmann put in her third 20+ kill outing of the season, leading the Jackets with those 20 kills at a .400 clip, eight digs, two blocks and two aces. In doing so, she eclipsed 1,300 career kills, moving up to 1,305 to date.
Junior outside hitter Tamara Otene followed nearly amassing a double double as well with eight kills and nine digs, while junior setter Bella D’Amico ran the attack with 25 assists.
How it Happened
BYU came out of the gates firing, racing out to an early, 7-3 lead. Georgia Tech steadily climbed back from there, going on a stretch taking five of six points to even the tally at 11 all. The Jackets began to separate with a four-point run to lead 15-12, but the Cougars rallied back to knot things up at 17 apiece. One more run for the White and Gold pushed the set out of reach as Tech earned five consecutive points to lead 22-17. None other than Bergmann would seal the deal as her final kill of the set handed Georgia Tech a 25-20 first set win.
The second set mirrored the first as BYU slipped ahead once more, 7-4. The Jackets steadily pulled back again until a three-point run evened the score at 12 all. Tech strung together points when it needed to yet again, claiming five straight to move from a tie score line up to a 20-15 advantage. Already with a pair of aces in the most recent run, Bergmann would also clinch the second set for the Jackets with a kill, handing Tech a 25-21 victory in set two.
Georgia Tech carried its momentum into the…
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