No. 11 Georgia Tech Falls to Miami – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech volleyball team (15-3, 6-2 ACC) came up short on Sunday afternoon, falling to Miami (12-6, 5-3 ACC) inside O’Keefe Gymnasium. Two of the three sets were decided by the minimum, two, points as the Yellow Jackets just couldn’t overcome Miami’s defense (25-23, 25-20, 26-24).

Quick Hits

• This was the 22^nd consecutive sellout at O’Keefe Gymnasium dating back to the 2021 season.
• Senior libero Paola Pimentel led all players with 13 digs, her ninth consecutive 10+ dig match. She has reached double digit digs in 17 of 18 matches this season.
• Junior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino led the team with 13 kills, narrowly missing out on a double double with nine digs.
• Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene collected double-digit kills for the fourth straight match, finishing with 12.
• Otene owns 950 career kills, the most on the roster, as she closes in on her 1,000^th career kill.
• Freshman setter Heloise Soaresled the way with 28 assists and six digs. She posted multiple blocks for just the second time in her collegiate career (also at Wake Forest).
• This was Tech’s first home loss to Miami since 2017.

Set By Set

Set 1 (UM, 25-23): Bertolino started the match right where she left off on Friday, producing the first two points of the match off a solo block and a kill from Soares. Both sides settled into their systems from there on, trading points until the 14-13 mark when Miami won seven of eight points to take a 20-15 advantage and force a timeout from Coach Collier. Tech came out of the timeout with a 6-1 run, thanks to some strong serving from Pimentel to tie the set back at 21-21 but the Hurricanes’ fourth ace of the set brought the set to a close with the Jackets on the wrong end of a 25-23 score. Both sides utilized strong back row defense with the Hurricanes holding a 19-18 advantage in digs by the end of the set. Pimentel led all players with seven digs while Otene headlined the offense with five kills.

Set 2 (UM, 25-20): The back-and-forth battle continued into the second set with neither side leading by more than two points until the Hurricanes went on. 4-0 run to take the 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout. The Jackets fought to reduce the lead but couldn’t manage to get closer than two points as the Hurricanes took the set by five. Bertolino paced the offense with five kills to go along with three digs while Pimentel secured her 10th dig of the match.

Set 3 (UM, 26-24): Mendes found her groove at the start the third…