Senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer scored 20.5 points over three sets to pace the sixth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers to a 3-0 win over the No. 21 Yellowjackets of Georgia Tech.
The first set gave no indication that the match would end in a sweep. Georgia Tech went toe-to-toe with the higher-ranked Oregon. They took the lead twice down the stretch at 21-20 on an error by Wisconsin and again at 22-21 on a kill by freshman outside hitter Lameen Mambu.
Wisconsin evened the score on Colyer’s seventh kill of the set. The Badgers hit their stride, winning the next three points to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five. Seventeen of the Badgers’ kills were set by sophomore Charlie Fuerbringer. Red-shirt sophomore Grace Egan led all scorers with nine kills. Mambu, Ital Lopuyo, and Larissa Mendes paced the Yellowjackets with three kills.
Georgia Tech’s Bianca Garibaldi recorded the Yellowjackets’ only service ace of the match in the first set. A stat, Head Coach Michelle Collier identified as a contributing factor in the loss.
“They were just too comfortable running their offense, taking swings,” said Collier in her ninth year at the helm. “So it starts with our serve. We needed to have served a little bit better, make them a little uncomfortable.”
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The Yellowjackets stayed close through the first 23 points but never cut the lead below four after Carter Booth’s block of Garibaldi’s spike. Wisconsin widened the gap with Colyer drilling winners off the centerpiece set and three service aces. Redshirt senior Alicia Andrew chipped in four kills from her middle blocker position. The Badgers outscored the Yellowjackets 5-0 on blocks.
“We couldn’t slow down their outsides (outside hitters),” said Collier of her Jackets’ defense. “They (Wisconsin) really hit a high percentage, and when they are doing that it’s hard to compete. You gotta operate at the same level and we didn’t do that.”
Wisconsin scored seven of the set’s last 10 points to go up 2-0.
By the third set, the visitors from Madison, WI were playing with house money. While Colyar continued torching the Jackets’ defense with another seven kills, the Badgers weren’t able to shake them loose until late. A Garabaldi service error turned a three-point deficit into a six-point deficit. Tech never got closer as the Badgers closed out the set 25-19.
The future is bright for the Jackets. Freshmen Anika Groom (8 kills) and Mambu (7 kills) are contributing at a high level eight games into the season. The duo and Garabaldi (sophomore) account for over 40% of the Jackets’ kills.
Collier didn’t think all was lost in front of the sold-out arena. “We played a great, clean low air match, and it was just hard to really slow them down,” said Collier. “That’s why its so good to play these teams. You have got to be able to hang with them to be at the level for long, and we just couldn’t sustain that level.”
Next week, the Yellowjackets will host intra-state rival Georgia in McCamish Pavilion at 7 pm. Get your tickets here.