No. 16 Tech Spoils Perfect Home Season for No. 25 UNC with 3-2 Win – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 16 Georgia Tech volleyball (17-4, 9-3 ACC) finished its week of ACC play with a five-set road win against No. 25 UNC (18-3, 10-2 ACC). Bianca Bertolino (17), Tamara Otene (13) and DeAndra Pierce (12) led the Yellow Jackets’ offense with double-digit kills against the Tar Heels while Luanna Emiliano had her seventh performance with 40+ digs.

QUICK HITS

• Otene now has eight double-doubles this season, including last game’s 20/20 double-double, and 30 double-doubles in her career after 13 kills and 15 digs against the Tar Heels.
• Bertolino earned her 12^th double-double of the season, 29^th of her career, with the 17 kills and 13 digs she had on Sunday.
• Bertolino is currently riding an impressive seven-game double-double streak.
• The senior tied her season-high for assists (3) for the third time this season as well as set a new season-high with six service aces.
• Pierce set a new career-high in kills with the 12 she had against UNC.
• Sofia Velez has now recorded 10 or more digs in 96 of her 100 collegiate matches and has recorded 10 or more digs in the last nine consecutive matches, after recording 19 against Duke.
• Georgia Tech’s eight-game ACC win streak is the longest ACC win-streak for the program since the 10-game win streak during the 2021 season.
• Tech’s most recent five-set victory over UNC was during the 2019 season.
• As a team, Georgia Tech set a new season-high for services aces (13), surpassing its previous high of 10 set against South Alabama (Sept. 12, 2024)
• The Yellow Jackets are now 5-1 in five-set matches this season.
• The last time Georgia Tech won back-to-back five set match was in October of 2023 when the Yellow Jackets beat the Virginia Cavalier on the road before beating the Florida State Seminoles at home.
• The last time Georgia Tech won back-to-back five set road matches was in November of 2019 when the Yellow Jackets beat UNC and NC State.

SET BY SET

Set 1 (GT 25 – UNC 23)

The Yellow Jackets played catchup early as the Tar Heels struck first in set one, but Tech stayed close on their heels and evened up the match at 13-13 thanks to Pierce’s first kill of the match. Pierce’s point was the start of a four-point scoring run that would result in Georgia Tech taking the lead, which it retained for the remainder of set one. Coming off her 20/20 double-double Friday, Otene remained hot on offense, leading the Jackets’ offense through set one with four kills. Pierce and Bertolino assisted Otene on offense with three…