ATLANTA — Georgia Tech's volleyball team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night, as the Yellow Jackets march on in what has been one of the program's finest seasons in its history.
Tech advanced with a sweep over Western Kentucky, 25-21, 25-18, 25-23.
The Yellow Jackets haven't been this far in the NCAA volleyball tournament since 2004. It's their third trip ever to the Sweet 16.
Tech also entered the tournament for the first time as one of the top nationally seeded teams.
On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets played in front of a packed home crowd at O'Keefe Gymnasium in Atlanta, with Tech hosting a tournament subregional as one of the seeded teams.
Julia Bergmann, a junior outside hitter, led the team with 17 kills, and Mariana Brambilla, a senior right-side hitter, added 13 kills.
Matti McKissock, a senior setter and program legend, tallied 36 assists and surpassed 4,000 for her career.
"It's really a surreal moment for us and we are super thankful for all of our fans who come to support us. In the good and the bad they're always there," McKissock said after the game. "It was just awesome to see everybody there tonight and we knew that nothing was gonna stop us tonight."
The team's coach, Michelle Collier, said going into the game the word for the match was "everybody."
"And we really had everybody on their A-game, executing, doing things that they needed to do," she said. "I'm just really proud of the group of girls that we have and everything they've done for the program over the past few years."
The Yellow Jackets will next face Ohio State on Thursday in Louisville, Ky. It should be a closely-matched contest - the Buckeyes are the tournament's No. 9 seed, while Tech came into the tournament as the No. 8 seed.
