To begin a much welcome homestand, Georgia Tech Volleyball cruised to a 3-1 win (25-16, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16) over the Duke Blue Devils. Tech moves to 7-7 (2-3 ACC) on the season and is 2-2 in their last four matches.
Tech came in with their largest group of unavailable players this season with all of Bjanka Stojanovic, Liv Mogridge, Larissa Mendes, Anna Boezi, and Ital Lopuyo registering DNPs. It’s the third straight game without Mendes and the first missed game by Lopuyo.
Thankfully, Tech was in plenty
good hands with freshman Anna Fiderowicz and Mimi Mambu, who both recorded career high kills with 17 and 20 respectively. Mambu’s 20 kills mark the second match this season a Tech player has hit 20+ kills (Despaigne, 20 vs. Ole Miss). Both freshman hit over .300.
The win is Tech’s 8th straight against Duke. The Blue Devils have only defeated Tech twice in the last 10 years. They will look to get above .500 when North Carolina comes to town on Sunday. North Carolina sits as the 28th ranked team in the country per Evollve while Tech is at 36th. They are currently 12-2 with a win over #11 Florida and undefeated in conference play, albeit having not played any of the ACC’s power teams.
How It Happened
Set 1
Everything came up Bianca Garibaldi in the beginning, kicking Tech off with two blocks as Tech went up 4-0 to start, then two kills as Tech grew their lead to 10-4 before Duke called timeout. Tech kept the lead in the 5-7 range until Duke on some razor thin margins (missed Despaigne & Fiderowicz shots) went on a three point run to make it 16-13 Tech, prompting Michelle Collier to call Tech’s first timeout. Tech countered immediately with a four point run with back to back Fiedrowicz kills to force Duke’s second timeout down 20-13. Garibaldi helped close the set with three straight points on a block and two kills. Fourteen of Tech’s 25 points in the set came from Fiederowicz and Garibaldi.
Set 2 (1-0 GT)
Duke got their first lead of the match after Garibaldi whiffed on the first point, but Tech grabbed a three point run immediately after for a 3-1 lead. Duke overall was in better form than the first set early, but Tech had no issue holding a small multi-point lead with a Despaigne kill and combo block from Pierce and Soares to go up 8-5. With good defense at the net and a Velez ace, Tech went on another three point run to go up 10-7.
Mambu got her first consistent looks at swings in the latter half of the set, hitting three kills to put Tech up 17-12 to start a 4-1 run before Duke called their first timeout down 20-13. Duke went on a 3-1 run before kills by Deispaigne and Mambu forced Duke’s second timeout needing to save seven set points down 24-17. A Mambu kill won the set 25-19.
Set 3 (2-0 GT)
Duke had all the momentum in the first half of the set, starting with a three point run and going on two more runs to retake the lead at 7-5 and then extending to 11-7 before Collier called Tech’s first timeout. Even with good spurts of offense, Duke’s attack was much improved and kept the Jackets no closer than 15-13 after a Despaigne ace. A Blue Devil three point run pushed their lead to 18-13, where they held a five point lead to the end of the set playing solid on the outsides (they hit .471) and digging far better than in the first two sets.
Set 4 (2-1 GT)
Tech took the early 2-0 lead before Duke climbed back to a 3-3 tie to begin a sideout train that Tech eventually broke with a Garibaldi powered three point run for a 9-6 lead, which included Fiederowicz’s career high 15th kill. Tech repeated the process again with another three point run and another career high kill mark, this time with Mambu’s 18th kill of the match before the TV timeout and Tech up 15-8. Duke called their first time out down 18-10 after a block and kill by Pierce. Fiderowicz added to her career high tally plus an ace to prompt Duke’s second timeout down 22-14. On Tech’s 25th point, Duke challenged looking to find a touch on their missed attack, but were unsuccessful.
Stats & Game Leaders
Kills: Mimi Mambu (GT): 20
Assists: Heloie Soares (GT): 41
Digs: Laura Bieleski (GT): 11
Blocks: Bianca Garibaldi (GT): 8
Hit% (min. 10 attempts): Zoe Gillen-Malveaux: .467
