Tears were shed before the first serve of Georgia Tech’s second-round NCAA Tournament match against Western Kentucky Saturday night in O’Keefe Gymnasium. And more tears were shed at the end.
And in between, the Yellow Jackets did what they’ve done so often in their home gym – controlled play and won. In what was expected to be their final home match of the season, coach Michelle Collier’s team swept the Hilltoppers to earn their spot in the regional semifinals, Tech’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2004 and the third time in team history.
“In the locker room, we asked our team to take us to a place where we had never been as a group,” Collier said. “And I think that they really understood the assignment got it done. So really proud of them.”
Tech, the tournament’s No. 8 national seed, improved to 25-5 and ended Western Kentucky’s 21-match winning streak and its season at 28-2. The Jackets, playing before their 11th sellout of the season in 1,200-seat O’Keefe, likely closed out their home schedule at 13-3 for the season. The poignancy of the moment was not lost.
“We knew that this was our last home game no matter what happened, so we really just wanted to take it all in,” said senior setter Matti McKissock. “It was just emotional seeing, thinking and reflecting on everything we’ve done so far, and just being focused on what we wanted to do (Saturday).”
McKissock said she cried beforehand as she took in the scene and then after the match “just in shock.”
“It was really an amazing feeling to come in the gym and see this whole crowd,” senior right-side hitter Mariana Brambilla said. “The energy was really good. We knew how important this is for Georgia Tech to be hosting and to give back to the people who have been supporting us.”
The Jackets stumbled at first, falling behind 5-1 and 8-4 in the first set before stabilizing. The set remained tight and reached 21-21 before Tech won the set’s final four points, with McKissock on serve for the final three. Tech won the next two sets 25-18 and 25-13. ACC player of the year Julia Bergmann led with 17 kills. McKissock reached 4,000 assists for her career with 36 against Saturday night along with a team-high 10 digs.
Collier described her team as “laser-focused” in the match.
“The word for this match was ‘everybody,’ and really had everybody on their ‘A’ game executing and doing things that they needed to do,” Collier said. “Just really proud of the group of girls that we have and everything they’ve done for this program over the past few years. Just really excited to keep going. I have a few more weeks with them, and keep going one at a time.”
The Jackets’ ascent continues. In Collier’s seventh season, Tech has made the NCAA field for the past two seasons, a first since making five in a row 2000-04. The Jackets will face No. 9 seed Ohio State in a regional semifinal. Match date, time and location had not been determined as of late Saturday evening.
Should the Jackets get past Ohio State and into the Elite Eight, they would match the farthest advancement in the tournament in team history. They would face the winner of No. 1 Louisville and No. 16 Florida.
“We celebrated now, but we know we have more challenges this week, and we have more games and then we’re not going to stop,” Brambilla said. “We’re not done yet.”
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