No. 23 Tech Defeats No. 17 Purdue 3-1 on the Road – Volleyball — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

THE FLATS –  No. 23 Georgia Tech volleyball (4-0, 0-0 ACC) began their first road trip on a high note after downing No. 17 Purdue (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) 3-1 on Wednesday evening. Preseason All-ACC honoree Larissa Mendes had a solid showing during day one of the Stacey Clark Classic with 17 kills, a .593 hitting efficiency, and two blocks.

QUICK HITS

• Mendes’ 17 kills surpassed her previous season high of eight kills against Wofford while also surpassing her previous season best attack percentage, .160, set against Arkansas State with a .593 attack percentage against No. 17 Purdue.
• Against Purdue, the junior right side saw her most kills recorded since the 21 she recorded against No. 14 BYU in the 2024 season.
• Ital Lopuyo helped Mendes lead Tech’s offense with a career high 12 kills, surpassing her previous high of eight kills, set three times in the 2023 season. Lopuyo had 12 kills on 22 swings and boasted her highest attack percentage since 2023 (.500).
• Sofia Velez led the Jackets defensively with a team high 20 digs for her 109^th game recording 10+ digs out of 115 collegiate games. Mimi Mambu also recorded her fourth straight game with double digit digs (10).
• Heloise Soares and Sara Toth shared the work load setting for the Jackets with Soares leading in assists with 25 and the freshman right behind her with 19.
• Of Tech’s four matches so far this season, Soares has recorded no less than 19 assists and averages 7.20 assists per set.
• Toth’s 19 assists on Wednesday were a career high, surpassing her previous high of 16 set against Ole Miss (8/30/25). Her .432 set percentage was also a career high and the best percentage for a setter so far this season for Tech.
• Two solo blocks from DeAndra Pierce and one from Soares marked Tech’s most solo blocks recorded so far this season.
• The 3-1 win over No. 17 Purdue was not only the first road victory of the season, but the first ranked victory of the season and the highest ranked win for the Jackets since their 3-0 sweep of No. 13 Florida last season in McCamish Pavilion.
• Tech played game one of the Stacey Clark Classic in front of its largest crowd of the season so far (2,415 people).
• Wednesday’s win makes the Jackets 1-1 overall against the Boilermakers.
• The Jackets inch closer to their 900^th program win as Wednesday’s 3-1 win brings them to 898 program wins.
• In its first four matches, Tech has only dropped 3/12 total sets played which is the lowest number of sets dropped in the first four matches since…