Volleyball History

Year by Year

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

Records

Team & Coaching History	Single-Season Top 10	All-Time Career Stats	25-Point Scoring Records	Honors & Awards	Elite Bulldogs	Career Top 10
Year-by-Year Statistics Leaders	Letterwinners	Record vs. All Opponents	Year-By-Year Results	Winning Streaks	Triple Doubles	Conference Opening Matches

The University of Georgia has enjoyed tremendous success since its first varsity season in 1978. Since the program's inception, Georgia has notched 18 seasons with 20 or more wins and produced arguably the Southeastern Conference's most prolific performer in Priscilla Pacheco.

Eight NCAA Tournament appearances highlight Georgia history, with two Sweet 16 showings. Led by setter Jenny McDowell, who spread out 5,667 assists during her time in red and black, the Bulldogs won an SEC Championship in 1985 and then repeated the feat in 1986. Georgia has also finished second in the league four times.

Georgia began a new chapter in its program in 2007 under the guidance of Joel McCartney. In his first season at the helm, McCartney led the Bulldogs to the biggest single season turnaround with an overall record of 17-13 and an SEC mark of 8-12. The Bulldogs continued to build under McCartney in 2008 as they went 17-14 overall and 10-10 in the SEC. The 10 league wins were the most by a Georgia squad since 2003. During the spring of 2008, the Bulldogs won the Inaugural SEC Coaches’ Beach Volleyball Championships. In 2009, the growth of the program took another step as the Dogs won 17 matches for a third-straight year and went 8-12 in SEC play to finish tied for fifth in the final league standings, the highest finish for the program since 2004.

Coach McCartney came to Georgia with a career head coaching record of 282-100 (.744), which ranked 15th among active NCAA Division I head coaches at the time. He became the first Georgia head coach to open his Bulldog career on a winning streak. Then, by finishing the season with 17 overall wins, McCartney tied Sid Feldman, Georgia’s first-ever head coach, for the second-most wins by a coach in his/her first year at the helm. The Bulldogs’ eight SEC wins in 2007 were the most league wins ever by a first-year Georgia head coach. In 2008, McCartney recorded his 300th collegiate-career head coaching victory as his UGA winning-percentage of .557 was the second-best start to a Georgia coaching career after two seasons. Now, the Bulldogs stand at 51-41 after three seasons in the McCartney era. 

Four other coaches have also led the Georgia program. Sid Feldman for the first 11 seasons, Jim Iams from 1989 to 1999, Mary Buczek from 2000 to 2004 and Steffi Legall for the 2005 and 2006 campaigns. Under Iams’ direction, Georgia volleyball enjoyed national prominence and top-20 rankings for five years, spurring NCAA appearances each of those seasons. Buczek also guided her team to the NCAA Tournament in 2004 after racking up 18 wins as well as finishing with a 20-win season in 2002.

Four All-Americans grace the Bulldogs’ all-time roster. Georgia’s only first-team selection, Pacheco, earned top recognition in 1993 and 1994. Pacheco also smashed the NCAA record for kills in a five-game match (53, since broken) and led the nation two straight years in kills per game. In addition, Pacheco has the most career kills (2,675) of any player who has ever taken the court in the SEC.

Nikki Nicholson, a two-time second-team choice as well as an exceptional student, co-captained the 1995 squad. Shelly Gross, who holds the career digs record for the Bulldogs at 1,748, made third-team All-American in 1986.

Equally important, Georgia boasts three athletes who have earned Academic All-America honors: Jill Moore (1989-91), Jodi Kruse (1992, 93) and Nicholson (1993-95). Nicholson also was honored as the 1994 and 1995 GTE Academic All-American Athlete of the Year for volleyball. Kruse, Moore and Nicholson also distinguished themselves with postgraduate grants.

Georgia has placed at least one Bulldog on the All-SEC roster every year but three since 1981. Pacheco, Nicholson and powerful middle blocker Hadli Anstine were the first to earn such honors every year of their careers.

University of Georgia Athletics

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