University of Georgia
Georgia State
Luft, Clark Lead UGA To Comeback Victory Over GSU
September 14, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2010
ATLANTA - Freshman Kathleen Luft and senior Erika Clark led the University of Georgia volleyball team to a 3-2, comeback victory over Georgia State on Tuesday evening at the GSU Sports Arena.
Georgia (8-3) dropped the first two sets to Georgia State (5-5), 24-26 and 18-25, but the Bulldogs rallied behind Clark and Luft to win the final three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-20 and 15-12. It marked Georgia's first comeback from a 0-2 deficit since doing so against Long Island on Sept. 12, 2009.
"The bright spot in the match was the courage the girls used to finish with a win, but we definitely have some work to do in becoming a more mature team," Georgia head coach Joel McCartney said.
Clark earned her team-leading third double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs while Luft posted her highest kills total of the season with 14 on .324 clip.
"Luft and Erika were the steadiest performers for us tonight, and although others kicked in to help, those two were the difference in this match," McCartney noted.
The offensive attack was supported by solid performances from freshman outside hitter Brittany Northcutt, setter Kathleen Gates and senior middle hitter Valentina Gonzalez. Northcutt provided the Bulldogs with a team-best 15 kills on a .239 hitting percentage, and Gates guided the offense with 49 assists while adding 10 digs for her second double-double of the year. Gonzalez added her consistently strong performance from the middle hitter position with nine kills on a .348 mark.
Defensively, Gates and Clark were two of four Bulldogs to finish the match with double-digit digs totals. Junior libero Carla Tietz paced the team with 16 digs while freshman Allison Summers posted her best match of the year with 15 digs. The Bulldogs also combined for 14.0 blocks as team led by junior middle hitter Ann Dylla's seven stops.
Georgia State was led in the match by Ashley Jones and Audrey Cantrell. Jones recorded a match-best 19 kills while Cantrell had a match-best 24 digs.
"Tami (Audia) and her staff did a really nice job with preparing for this match, and although we got the win, I feel they played hard enough to win it as well," McCartney said of the Panthers.
In the first set, Georgia led by as many as eight at 19-11 leading to a Georgia State time out. Out of the stoppage of play, the Panthers began their comeback in the set with a 7-2 run to pull within three at 21-18. The Bulldogs would cling to the lead but after reaching set point at 24-22, the Panthers rallied to score the final four points of the frame and take of 1-0 lead in the match by taking the set 26-24.
Georgia State then jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Georgia closed that gap and tied the match at 9-9. However, the Panthers then went on a 5-0 run to go up 14-9 and would lead by as many as seven in the set, which ended at 25-18 after another 4-0 run from GSU.
In the third set, the Bulldogs came alive breaking a 6-6 tie with a 7-0 run to go up 13-6 en route to taking the set by 13 points at 25-12.
Georgia carried the momentum into the fourth set by building a four-point lead at 7-3, and the Panthers managed to cut the lead down to two at 8-6. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs kept control of the set building their lead to as many as nine at 19-10 before taking it 25-20 and forcing the decisive fifth set that UGA would take 15-12 on a .414 hitting percentage.
Up next, Georgia will begin Southeastern Conference play with a road swing to Arkansas and 19th-ranked LSU. The Bulldogs will play the Razorbacks (6-5) on Friday in Barnhill Arena at 8 p.m. ET and will play the Tigers (9-0) Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the Maravich Center.
Match Notes:
· Having played a five-set match against Georgia Tech this past Saturday, the Bulldogs played back-to-back five set contests for the first time this year. The Bulldogs did not play consecutive five-set matches in 2009 until the final two contests of the season at Arkansas and Auburn.
· Georgia's last comeback from a 0-2 deficit in a match came on Sept. 12, 2009, at Long Island. Georgia dropped the first two sets of that match 26-28 and 25-27 before winning the final three sets 25-21, 25-22 and 15-5.
· UGA improved to 10-6 all-time against GSU.
