LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No. 11 Georgia Tech volleyball was handed its first conference loss by No. 2 Louisville, falling 3-1 (25-22, 14-25, 21-25, 20-25) on Sunday in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
The Yellow Jackets (10-3, 3-1 ACC) got off to a strong start by snapping the Cardinals’ (13-1, 4-0 ACC) nine-set win streak with a first-set victory. Despite staying within five points of one of the nation’s best in the final two sets, Tech was unable to come out on top.
Senior middle blocker Erin Moss led the Jacket attack for the first time this season with 11 kills at a solid .409 clip. Joining Moss with double digit kills was senior outside hitter Julia Bergmann, tallying 10 kills of her own to go with six digs as she moved to 230 kills on the season. Alongside Moss and Bergmann on the attack with a blistering .500 hitting percentage was graduate middle blocker Breland Morrissette, who added nine kills.
As five Jackets tallied eight or more kills through the match, pitching in across the board were sophomore outside hitter Bianca Bertolino and junior right-side hitter Tamara Otene. Bertolino added eight kills and six digs while leading the squad with three solo blocks. Meanwhile, Otene tallied eight kills and eight digs of her own. Junior setter Bella D’Amico orchestrated the attack once more, finishing with 38 assists on top of six digs, while senior libero Paola Pimentel finished with a team-leading 16 digs.
How it Happened
In a tightly contested first set, Georgia Tech strung together four straight points to inch ahead. Despite the Cardinals tying the match twice soon after, the Yellow Jackets managed to avoid trailing for the remainder of the set, using three point runs to slip back ahead 11-8 initially and again at 14-11. Another three-point burst kept the White and Gold pacing in front, increasing the lead to 17-13. The pattern continued as Louisville rallied back once more to knot things up at 18 apiece, but Tech responded with its fifth significant run of the set as three more points moved the Jackets back on top, 21-18. The White and Gold would hang onto the lead from there, claiming the final two points of the set for a 25-22 victory to open the match.
The second set started much like the first as Georgia Tech took the first two points of the set and strung together three more points soon after for an early, 7-4 lead. The Yellow Jackets maintained the lead until the Cardinals knotted things up at 10 apiece. After the two sides traded a couple…
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