No. 19 Tech Comes Up Short in ACC Finale Against No. 1 Pitt – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

PITTSBURGH, PA. – No. 19 Georgia Tech volleyball (20-9, 12-8 ACC) capped the 2024 regular season taking the No. 1 Pittsburgh Panthers the distance (29-1, 19-1 ACC) on Saturday afternoon. Tamara Otene notched her 12^th double-double of the season with 19 kills and 20 digs while Bianca Bertolino recorded her 16^th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs.

QUICK HITS

• Otene’s 19 kills push her to 410 total kills this season.
• Bertolino’s 14 kills against the Pitt bring her to 23 double-digit kill games this season.
• Her three service aces bring Bertolino to 12 matches this season recording three or more aces.
• Sofia Velez has now recorded 10 or more digs in 103 of her 109 collegiate matches after posting 13 digs against the Panthers.
• Her Saturday performance now put Velez at 411 digs on the season.
• Bertolino (302) and Otene (307) both surpassed the 300 mark for digs on the season as well.
• Luanna Emiliano led the team as far as assists with 28 while Heloise Soares pitched in 15 assists and six digs as the Jackets finished the regular season in their 5-2 rotation.
• Anna Boezi recorded a season-high four blocks against the No. 1 ranked Panthers as well as tied her season high for digs.
• The Yellow Jackets were one of four teams to force Pitt to play through five sets (Michigan, SMU, Louisville).
• This was Tech’s 10th five-set match this season.

SET BY SET

Set 1 (GT 10 – PITT 25)

The Jackets trailed early in set one as a six-point run and a five-point run quickly made the match 15-4. Despite having more total attempts, Tech had numerous attack errors and struggled defensively to handle Pitt’s .478 attack percentage which hurt the Yellow Jackets ability to build momentum. Otene led the group through the first set with three kills while Logan Wiley contributed two kills as well. On defense, Otene secured 50% of Tech’s digs (4/8).

Set 2 (GT 26 – PITT 24)

Set two saw Georgia Tech take the lead for the first time in the match, 8-7, just before a five-point run returned the lead to Pitt (12-8). The Yellow Jackets responded by outscoring the Panthers 9-2 to reclaim the lead, 19-18. Pitt reached set point first but kills from Otene and Larissa Mendes combined with a block from Boezi and Otene gave Tech the set two victory. Liv Mogridge and Otene chipped in four kills respectively to Tech’s 16 set two kills. Mendes and Bertolino contributed three kills each as well to help the Yellow Jackets tie up the match. Emiliano recorded a match-high nine assists in set…