PITTSBURGH — After roaring out to a 2-0 lead, No. 11 Georgia Tech volleyball (13-2, 4-1 ACC) was topped for the first time in conference play this season by No. 7 Pitt (14-2, 5-0) in five sets on Friday night in Fitzgerald Field House. The Yellow Jackets dropped the 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-15, 15-8) decision despite senior outside hitter Tamara Otene’s stellar outing as she led the match in kills.
Otene piled up a personal best as a Yellow Jacket of 23 kills along with 13 digs for her eighth double double of the season. Behind Otene, junior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino did damage from the service line with four aces on top of six kills and seven digs. Defensively, a pair of middle blockers served as central stoppers with four blocks apiece. One being sophomore Anna Boezi with six kills, she was joined by graduate Afedo Manyang with four kills of her own. Setting duties were split on the night between senior Bella D’Amico with 18 assists and freshman Heloise Soares with 21 assists.
How it Happened
Both sides went on early tears to begin the match as Georgia Tech got going with a four-point run, but Pitt answered by stringing together seven straight for a 9-5 lead. The Panthers would push ahead by six with a three-point burst soon after, 12-6, but the Yellow Jackets drew back within one by claiming six of the next seven points, trailing just 13-12. The two sides continued to trade blows as Pitt threatened up to a 23-20 advantage, but the White and Gold rallied to pull out the final five points as Otene clinched the first set with three straight kills, 25-23.
Mirroring set one, both units put together four-point spurts early as the Jackets went up 6-3 before the Panthers turned the tables for an 8-7 advantage. Tech worked its way up to a 13-10 lead after taking five of the next six points, but Pitt once more got hot and took five consecutive chances, moving in front, 15-13. The behemoths would go nearly tit for that from there up to a 22 all draw as the Panthers broke the tie, but the Yellow Jackets took the following three points to once again pull away late. A Bertolino ace would seal the second set for the White and Gold, clinching a 25-23 triumph and 2-0 match lead.
Pitt began to claw back in set three, creating separation midway through by stringing together six straight points for a 15-7 advantage. Tech would keep fighting, taking seven points in nine chances to pull within four and trail 19-15, but the Panthers would press on to win…
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