Georgia Tech Volleyball starts the season with many new faces, 10 to be exact, in 2026. In their season opener against Northern Iowa, many were highly involved in giving Tech a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-21, 25-17) over the UNI in Ames, Iowa.
Tech debuted a new libero, outside hitter, right side, and middle blocker in the starting lineup.
- Mana Kaneko at libero is a Juco transfer, following Paola Pimentel and Sofia Velez in a line of transfer liberos to start for Head Coach Michelle Collier.
- Alida Bennour, a freshman from Algeria, started at right side for the injured Larissa Mendes, who is still healing from a torn ACL last season.
- Zoë Humphrey, a Tennessee transfer, started at middle blocker with Bianca Garibaldi, who both came to Tech after their freshman seasons at other Power 4 schools.
- Lastly, Magda Kobaidze, a Tblisi, Georgia native and star of today’s game, started at outside hitter.
Returning outside hitter Laura Bieleski led Tech with a career-high 12 kills hitting .121 plus 10 digs for a double-double, but Kobaidze was right behind her with 11 kills on only 5 errors hitting .200 in her collegiate debut. Both ladies were very impressive with their shot power and staying composed, a problem that Tech ran into at times with their hitters last year.
Tech only trailed for one total point during the entire match and rarely showed any flustered moments. The Jackets lets by as much as seven points in the first set, seven in the second set, and nine in the third.
UNI had some struggles with attack errors with 19 combined coming from their two primary attackers, Cassidy Hartman and Lily Dykstra.
The match is a rare one for Collier’s Tech team as they were ranked 28th in the preseason AVCA rankings. Up until the middle of last season, Tech had been ranked for almost 100 consecutive weeks. But, the ranking is fair for the time being with so many new players taking new roles including multiple freshman.
In all likelihood, we won’t see them back in the rankings without stringing together a few wins. Tech faces Iowa State tomorrow in a matchup of No’s. 27 and 28 in the preseason AVCA Rankings.
How It Happened
Set 1
Tech’s first point came from newcomer Alida Bennour before a blocking powered by Zoe Humphrey and Bianca Garibaldi gave Tech a five point run to lead 7-3. Kills by Garibaldi and Laura Bieleski got gave Tech a 10-6 lead and went on a four point run courtesy of Northern Illinois errors to extend the lead to 13-6. Magda Kobaidze made a mark with a thunderous kill and a solo block on the left side to put Tech up 17-9.
Tech held their sizeable lead up to 24-17 before allowing a six point run by the Panthers, during which Head Coach Michelle Collier burned both of her timeouts to stem the bleeding, eventually getting the winning point from Gabi Robinska.
Set 2 (1-0 GT)
Tech jumped out to a 6-1 lead starting with a Humphrey kill and getting to six on a Garibaldi/Bieleski combo block to prompt Northern Iowa’s first timeout of the set. Tech ran into some offensive trouble dropping in efficiency, allowing UNI to shrink Tech’s lead to two at 8-6. Kills by Kobiadze and Bieleski kept the gap at 11-9 before a three point run put Tech’s lead back at five up 15-10.
A Kobaidze kill pushed the lead to five again at 17-12 before a four point Panther run brought them to 17-16. Riley Bethea came in at that point for her Georgia Tech debut and got the kill in the middle to stop the run and go up 18-16.
A long point at 19-17 won by UNI was successfully challenged by Collier, giving Tech a 20-16 lead. The successful challenge was Collier’s second of the set, making the difference as Tech won by the same four point margin at 25-21 with two kills by Garibaldi to end the set.
Set 3 (2-0 GT)
UNI got their first lead of the match to open the third, but it lasted all of one point as Tech went on a three point run (it was four before a successful UNI challenge) with an ace from Kobaidze. Kills by Bethea and Garibaldi gave Tech a 6-3 lead before UNI went on a three point run to tie at 6-6. At a 7-7 tie, Tech went on a three point run to prompt UNI’s first timeout of the set down 10-7.
Two Riley Bethea kills kept Tech’s lead at a four point margin, and Bieleski did the same to go up 15-11 going into the third set media timeout. Another Bieleski and Bennour ace later and UNI called their final timeout of the set down 17-11.
Two Kobaidze kills pushed the lead to 21-13 and a block by Bethea gave Tech a nine point lead at 22-13, their largest lead at any point of the match.
Game Leaders
Kills: Lily Dykstra (UNI): 13
Assists: Heloise Soares (GT): 35
Blocks: Bianca Garibaldi (GT)/Grace Hannam (UNI): 4
Hit% (min. 10 attempts): Bianca Garibaldi (GT): .235
Points: Laura Bieleski (GT): 14
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