Georgia Tech at home for start of NCAA volleyball tournament

Georgia's Kayla Rivera challenges Georgia Tech's Julia Bergmann at the net in the Yellow Jackets' win over the Bulldogs September 18, 2021 at Tech's O'Keefe Gymnasium. (Georgia Tech Athletics)

Georgia's Kayla Rivera challenges Georgia Tech's Julia Bergmann at the net in the Yellow Jackets' win over the Bulldogs September 18, 2021 at Tech's O'Keefe Gymnasium. (Georgia Tech Athletics)

The Georgia Tech volleyball team earned the eighth overall seed in the NCAA Tournament Sunday night, which grants the Yellow Jackets hosting privileges for the first and second rounds. Tech will play The Citadel in the first round of the 64-team event at 7 p.m. Friday at O’Keefe Gymnasium, with the winner advancing to play the Western Kentucky-South Carolina winner on Saturday evening.

In another landmark accomplishment for coach Michelle Collier’s team, this is the first time that the Jackets will be at home for an NCAA Tournament match as a top-16 national seed. After reaching the second round of last season’s tournament, it’s the first time that Tech has made back-to-back tournament trips since making five in a row 2000-04.

If the Jackets advance past the second round, they would compete in regional play the following weekend at one of four campus sites to be determined.

The Citadel earned its first-ever NCAA bid after winning the Southern Conference tournament. The Bulldogs finished tied for fifth in the league, but defeated the second, third and fourth seeds to capture the title. It is the first-ever conference championship for a women’s team at the school, which first admitted women in 1995 and had its first scholarship female athlete in 1997.

All-session tickets will go on sale Monday at 4 p.m. on the Tech website.

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