University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Volleyball Defeats Stetson 3-0 In Season Opener
August 25, 2007 | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Junior middle-hitter Brooke Peugh recorded 14 kills and had a career-best .571 hitting percentage to led the Georgia volleyball team to a season-opening 3-0 victory over the Stetson Hatters in the opening match of the Georgia Southern Invitational on Friday night at the Hanner Fieldhouse.
“We are going to celebrate every win that we get this year knowing how much this team has struggled in the past,” said Georgia head coach Joel McCartney, who became the third Bulldog coach to win his/her debut game. “We certainly have a lot of athletes working hard to put themselves in position to get wins, so regardless of who we play we are going to celebrate each win that we can find. It was especially a good start for us. Stetson was a very difficult team to play. I’m proud of the girls for doing what it took to get a sizeable enough lead in every game to be able to feel somewhat comfortable."
In addition to Peugh’s output, Georgia (1-0) received a match-best 17 kills from junior outside-hitter Maria Taylor. Peugh and Taylor paced a Bulldog hitting percentage of .328 as Taylor hit .424. Peugh’s previous-best hitting percentage was .480, set on August 25 of last season against UAB.
“Brooke Peugh is very noteworthy tonight,” McCartney said. “She really set the stage for the kind of tempo offense that we want to run. We’ve been working really hard at that over the course of the spring and in the pre-season camp with her, but she stepped up tonight and did things that were above and beyond what we’ve seen in pre-season. To have a real gamer like that on your side is especially helpful."
In addition to Taylor and Peugh, Georgia started senior Renee Johnson at libero, junior transfer Mara Martin at setter and three freshmen in Erika Clark and Britta Buethe at outside hitter and Lindsay Gehan at middle hitter.
Johnson, who played at outside hitter for Georgia in 2006, paced the team with 14 digs in her first game as a libero while Martin provided a match-high 41 assists in her first match with the Bulldogs.
“Renee was probably disappointed with her performance tonight, but I was proud of her,” McCartney indicated. “The reason why is because she has a fellow teammate and senior not in the match while she is stepping into that role. Those girls are friends and the senior class is pretty tight, so that’s a tough responsibility to take over that role. Renee has the nod right now in a tight battle. I think there are a lot of people who can step up and prove themselves in ball controlling positions.”
The three freshman starters also contributed big for Georgia in the contest. Both Clark and Buethe nearly recorded double-double performances in their Bulldog debut. Clark notched 12 digs and nine kills while also leading the team with four service aces. Buethe tallied nine kills and nine digs. Gehan’s first appearance for Georgia included four kills, a solo block and two assisted blocks.
“The freshmen did okay. I was pretty proud of them,” McCartney said. “It’s not easy to step into a program and carry the burden of stepping in right away and doing it for the team. I feel good about each one of those three players and their performances. Britta Buethe was just hammering the ball on the outside and Stetson was just digging everything that she hit and she just couldn’t catch a break. She only hit in the .170’s, but the kind of shots she was taking I thought she was going to be more in the .270’s. Erika did a nice job playing all the way around for us and Gehan did some good things as well.”
In game one, Clark led the Dogs with a stellar service game to a 23-13 advantage before Stetson closed to within five at 26-21 before three straight errors ended the Hatters rally as the Bulldogs went on to win game one 30-23.
Clark again made a run on serve in the second game, including three of her four aces as Georgia took game two 30-23.
The Bulldogs closed the door in game three with a 30-21 win.
Freshmen Kelsey Burkett and Valentina Gonzalez also made their debut for the Bulldogs on Friday night.
Stetson received good performances from Rebecca Orzechowicz with 13 kills and Karla Redshaw with 25 assists and 13 digs.
Georgia will continue play in the Georgia Southern Invitational on Saturday with two matches. The Bulldogs will take on the Ospreys of North Florida at noon (ET) and the Georgia Southern Eagles at 7 p.m. (ET).
| GXtra - the official premium online service of the Georgia Bulldogs - offers unrivaled coverage of Georgia Volleyball and Georgia Soccer, including live video broadcasts of select matches, as well as live audio and on-demand video content. For more information on GXtra, please click here! |
