Following a second-round exit from the 2024 NCAA tournament to Wisconsin, Tech’s main offseason concerns centered around replacing the production from their two top hitters — alumni Bianca Bertolino and Tamara Otene. The 2025 roster includes a healthy mix of familiar faces and new players. Tech keeps five of their main rotation players including junior right side hitter Larissa Mendes, senior libero Sofia Velez and junior setter Heloise Soares as well as all three veteran middle blockers. To replace the production of Bertolino and Otene, head coach Michelle Collier has turned to freshmen and transfers.
Tech brings in two impact transfers for this upcoming season in sophomore middle blocker Bianca Garibaldi and redshirt junior Ital Lopuyo. Garibaldi comes from ACC foe Pittsburgh, where she learned from some of the most talented hitters in collegiate volleyball. She spent the summer playing for the U21 Argentinian National team and will look to have an impact on Tech, who struggled to get production from their middles last season. Lopuyo comes from Texas A&M, where she had 30 kills with a .285 hitting percentage her previous season.
In addition to the two transfers, Tech added eight freshmen, four of whom are international and all of whom have a chance to make an immediate impact in 2025. Tech will likely be starting at least two freshman hitters and one setter (assuming Collier decides to run a 6-2 rotation). Candidates for those freshman hitters include Lameen (Mimi) Mambu, who participated on the U19 USA National team this summer, and U21 Polish National team player Anna Fiedorowicz. Also, Tech will likely start a freshman setter in either Abi Li from Alpharetta, Ga. or Sara Toth from Budapest, Hungary. Li was a standout for Alpharetta High school and her A5 Club team, being named 2024-25 Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year for volleyball.
The most important aspect of this newly constructed roster will be team chemistry. With the top two kill leaders and one of the two setters leaving, Tech will need to make sure they develop a rhythm on the court. While Tech starts the year with two scrimmages, one intrasquad and one against Auburn, the difficulty in competition will begin right out of the gate. Despite the roster turnover, Tech finds themselves ranked sixth in the ACC preseason rankings and 22nd in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) rankings to begin the season.
Recently, Tech announced their 2025 schedule, and it features one of the toughest sets of opponents in recent years. The Jackets begin their season in their home opener tournament, the Georgia Tech Classic, where they will face off against Wofford, Ole Miss and Arkansas State. Following this round-robin, Tech’s out-of-conference schedule only gets more difficult.
The following week, Tech will travel up north to West Lafayette, Ind. for the Stacey Clark Classic, another round-robin tournament against Purdue, Kansas and Bowling Green. Both Purdue and Kansas will be extremely difficult matches — both teams finished in the top 12 of last season’s final American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. Notably, Kansas signed former top head coach Matt Ulmer and was picked to finish second in the preseason Big 12 poll.
After the trip to West Lafayette, Tech travels to Knoxville, Tenn. for the SEC/ACC challenge and a rematch of their 2025 NCAA Tournament opening round matchup where Tech bested the Volunteers. The Volunteers boast a sixth-place SEC preseason ranking and will be a tough opponent against whom Tech could add a signature win to their profile. Then, during the same week Tech hosts 2024 NCAA Elite Eight participant Wisconsin at O’Keefe Gymnasium. This matchup will likely be one of Tech’s toughest throughout the entire season and a sell-out is expected. Despite losing multiple seniors, including former AVCA national player of the year Sarah Franklin, the Badgers rebuilt their roster with stars such as outside hitter Mimi Colyer from Oregon.
Tech ends their non-conference play with what will be their highest attended home match when they host u[sic]GA and play the annual Clean,Old-Fashioned Hate in McCamish Pavilion. Last year in McCamish, Tech defeated nationally ranked Florida, but two years ago, Tech succumbed to the Bulldogs in four sets.
The Jackets’ ACC draw does not get any easier than their non-conference matches. Tech will play Louisville once, Pittsburgh twice and Stanford twice, the three top teams in the conference. Finishing inside the top three of the ACC will be a steep task with this difficult schedule and inexperienced team.
Tech kicks off the season with an intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 16th at 4 p.m. and exhibition against Auburn on Aug. 23rd at 1 p.m. Student tickets for these games and all remaining games of the season are free admission with a Buzzcard and distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.