University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Volleyball Starts Season Friday Against Stetson
August 22, 2007 | Volleyball
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia volleyball team will open its 2007 season this Friday night at 5 p.m. against Stetson University in Statesboro, Ga., as part of the Georgia Southern Invitational.
The Bulldogs’ and the Hatters’ contest is the first of two matches in the tournament on Friday with the other participating teams, North Florida and Georgia Southern, taking the court at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Georgia will face North Florida at noon and will take on Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.
Joel McCartney, who will be in his first season as head coach, feels the team has developed well through the pre-season.
“We might be a little further along at this stage of the pre-season than I originally expected,” McCartney, who holds a career record of 282-100 (.738), said. “I evaluated only one poor on-court training session during the camp and that speaks volumes to me about the character of this group. Our ball control is much stronger than we saw in the spring and certainly bringing in the new athletes to our nucleus has added not only depth but impact to our line-up.”
The Bulldogs’ squad and coaching staff will be a mix of familiar and new faces for the 2007 season. Joining McCartney in their first year as coaches at Georgia are assistants Chad Callihan and Jennifer Gandolph. Georgia’s roster will consist of 10 returning student-athletes, a junior-transfer and five freshmen. Coach McCartney anticipates the Bulldogs having a prolific unit on the court this weekend. Georgia will start three outside hitters in junior Maria Taylor and freshmen Britta Buethe and Erika Clark. Junior transfer Mara Martin will get the nod at setter, junior Brooke Peugh and freshman Lindsay Gehan will be the Dogs’ starters at middle hitter and senior Renee Johnson will be the starting libero.
“I would expect to see the same kind of productivity in the competitions this weekend that we have witnessed over the past two weeks in camp,” McCartney said. “We will start with three freshmen and a junior transfer setter, so the look on our court will be somewhat new from last season. Obviously the Bulldog systems have changed quite a bit than what this group is used to, but a couple of familiar faces will return to the court with Maria Taylor, Brooke Peugh and Renee Johnson in the line-up.”
Pre-season practices for the Bulldogs began on August 7 with 15 on-court sessions leading up to the start of school on August 16. Since then, the squad has practiced seven more times and will hold another morning session on Thursday before departing for Statesboro in the evening. Coach McCartney is enthusiastic about getting the season underway this weekend.
“We will learn more about North Florida and Georgia Southern at the tournament and from their match on Friday night, but we are coming into the Stetson match with only names and numbers on paper,” McCartney explained. “There is something with that first match every year that is very exciting for me because neither team knows the other or what to expect and it just comes down to the athletes on the floor.”
Georgia holds a 1-0 series lead over Stetson with a 3-0 victory over the Hatters to open the 2003 season, which started a string of four straight seasons in which the Bulldogs have opened with a win. The contest with North Florida will be the first-ever meeting between the schools while UGA holds a 9-0 series advantage over GSU.
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Player Quotes:
Junior outside hitter Maria Taylor:
On her outlook for the season after last year:
“We can’t go down. We can only go up. It changes the focus from we have to win because someone else is coming to beat us. We want to win because of how we did last year.”
On her goals and teams goals for the season:
“Mostly, I want to try to be a good leader for the team with my attitude and play on the court whether it is being loud or keeping everyone focused. Hopefully, we can just show that we deserve to be in the SEC and cab move up in ranking.”
Junior setter Mara Martin:
On coming to Georgia from Michigan:
“The team was really accepting. They just took me right in from the beginning. Being that I’m new, you could think I’d be a little hesitant but everyone was really cool and really accepted me.”
On what she expects to bring to the team:
“I just hope that I have a good attitude, especially on the floor. I think experience too because I came from a pretty good conference [the Big Ten], so the extra experience on the floor will help out.”
Georgia Southern Invitational Schedule:
Friday, August 24:
Georgia vs. Stetson at 5 p.m.
North Florida vs. Georgia Southern 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 25:
Stetson vs. Georgia Southern at 10 a.m.
Georgia vs. North Florida at noon
Stetson vs. North Florida at 5 p.m.
Georgia vs. Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs’ and the Hatters’ contest is the first of two matches in the tournament on Friday with the other participating teams, North Florida and Georgia Southern, taking the court at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Georgia will face North Florida at noon and will take on Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.
Joel McCartney, who will be in his first season as head coach, feels the team has developed well through the pre-season.
“We might be a little further along at this stage of the pre-season than I originally expected,” McCartney, who holds a career record of 282-100 (.738), said. “I evaluated only one poor on-court training session during the camp and that speaks volumes to me about the character of this group. Our ball control is much stronger than we saw in the spring and certainly bringing in the new athletes to our nucleus has added not only depth but impact to our line-up.”
The Bulldogs’ squad and coaching staff will be a mix of familiar and new faces for the 2007 season. Joining McCartney in their first year as coaches at Georgia are assistants Chad Callihan and Jennifer Gandolph. Georgia’s roster will consist of 10 returning student-athletes, a junior-transfer and five freshmen. Coach McCartney anticipates the Bulldogs having a prolific unit on the court this weekend. Georgia will start three outside hitters in junior Maria Taylor and freshmen Britta Buethe and Erika Clark. Junior transfer Mara Martin will get the nod at setter, junior Brooke Peugh and freshman Lindsay Gehan will be the Dogs’ starters at middle hitter and senior Renee Johnson will be the starting libero.
“I would expect to see the same kind of productivity in the competitions this weekend that we have witnessed over the past two weeks in camp,” McCartney said. “We will start with three freshmen and a junior transfer setter, so the look on our court will be somewhat new from last season. Obviously the Bulldog systems have changed quite a bit than what this group is used to, but a couple of familiar faces will return to the court with Maria Taylor, Brooke Peugh and Renee Johnson in the line-up.”
Pre-season practices for the Bulldogs began on August 7 with 15 on-court sessions leading up to the start of school on August 16. Since then, the squad has practiced seven more times and will hold another morning session on Thursday before departing for Statesboro in the evening. Coach McCartney is enthusiastic about getting the season underway this weekend.
“We will learn more about North Florida and Georgia Southern at the tournament and from their match on Friday night, but we are coming into the Stetson match with only names and numbers on paper,” McCartney explained. “There is something with that first match every year that is very exciting for me because neither team knows the other or what to expect and it just comes down to the athletes on the floor.”
Georgia holds a 1-0 series lead over Stetson with a 3-0 victory over the Hatters to open the 2003 season, which started a string of four straight seasons in which the Bulldogs have opened with a win. The contest with North Florida will be the first-ever meeting between the schools while UGA holds a 9-0 series advantage over GSU.
---
Player Quotes:
Junior outside hitter Maria Taylor:
On her outlook for the season after last year:
“We can’t go down. We can only go up. It changes the focus from we have to win because someone else is coming to beat us. We want to win because of how we did last year.”
On her goals and teams goals for the season:
“Mostly, I want to try to be a good leader for the team with my attitude and play on the court whether it is being loud or keeping everyone focused. Hopefully, we can just show that we deserve to be in the SEC and cab move up in ranking.”
Junior setter Mara Martin:
On coming to Georgia from Michigan:
“The team was really accepting. They just took me right in from the beginning. Being that I’m new, you could think I’d be a little hesitant but everyone was really cool and really accepted me.”
On what she expects to bring to the team:
“I just hope that I have a good attitude, especially on the floor. I think experience too because I came from a pretty good conference [the Big Ten], so the extra experience on the floor will help out.”
Georgia Southern Invitational Schedule:
Friday, August 24:
Georgia vs. Stetson at 5 p.m.
North Florida vs. Georgia Southern 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 25:
Stetson vs. Georgia Southern at 10 a.m.
Georgia vs. North Florida at noon
Stetson vs. North Florida at 5 p.m.
Georgia vs. Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.
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