Georgia Defeats Mississippi State in Season Finale, 3-1

Friday, November 23

Athens, Ga.

7 p.m.

University of Georgia

15-14, 6-12

Mississippi State

5-26, 1-17

Mississippi State

Georgia

Photo by: Kristin M. Bradshaw

Georgia Defeats Mississippi State in Season Finale, 3-1

November 23, 2018 | Volleyball

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ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia volleyball team defeated Mississippi State in four sets Friday evening to close the 2018 season at Stegeman Coliseum (19-25, 25-22, 33-31, 25-13).

With the win, Georgia (15-14, 6-12) finishes the season over .500. It's the first time since 2008 and 2009 that Georgia has finished over .500 in back-to-back seasons.

Prior to the match, Georgia honored five senior student-athletes who played their final match as a Bulldog: Majesti Bass, Sydney Gilliam, Katie Houser, Anna Kate Karstens, and Caroline Ostman.

"[These seniors] mean everything; they've gone through so much," head coach Tom Black said after the match. "The first two years, the program was really struggling, and they've done so much work in their last two years to help lift this program up. I definitely have not coached a team that has gone through this much adversity in a single season. We wouldn't have been able to pick two wins up at the end of the season if they hadn't had led as well as they did. They're a special group of people. We'll miss them a lot."

In her final match as a Georgia Bulldog, Bass set a new career high with 20 kills while hitting .533 in the match. Mallory Hernandez finished with her fourth double-digit kill performance in the last five matches, closing the evening by tying the season-high she set on Wednesday with 19. Karstens (12) and Rachel Ritchie (10) also tipped the double-digit kill mark. Karstens' .524 hitting clip was a career best. The season finale was the only time Georgia had four players with 10 or more kills in a single match this season.

Ritchie recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 digs to complement her kill mark. Ritchie also tied a career-best three service aces. Setter Meghan Donovan dished out 60 assists with 11 digs for her 12^thdouble-double of her junior season. Senior libero Ostman led Georgia with 14 digs in the season finale.

The first set was close much of the frame. With Georgia ahead 9-8, Mississippi State opened a 4-1 run to pull ahead of UGA. Georgia later used three-straight points to knot it at 17 and force a timeout from the MSU bench. Mississippi State closed the first stanza on a 7-1 run to win the set, 25-19. Bass registered six kills in the first set while Hernandez had five. In all, the first set featured 11 ties and six lead changes.

Georgia led early in the second set, a lead it held much of the early part of the set. With Georgia in front 13-12, MSU used a 4-1 run to capture a 16-14 lead. Georgia quickly recovered to knot it at 18 then find a 20-18 lead following a 4-0 run. After drawing set point, 24-20, Mississippi State cut the late lead to two, forcing a timeout from Georgia. Hernandez's eighth kill after the timeout secured the win in set two and evened the match. Bass tipped the double-digit dig mark in the set, going to the third with 10 on the evening.

UGA found an early lead in the third set, 11-7. Mississippi State rattled off five-straight points to take the lead, 12-11. Later, MSU drew set point, 24-22, but Georgia tied it up and the third set was sent into extra rallies. With Mississippi State holding on to set point, 31-30, Ritchie tied it up and Karstens gave the Bulldogs the lead with an ace. A kill by Donovan sealed the long set for Georgia, 33-31.

Georgia's 33 points in the third set tied for third-most points scored in a set (vs. Kennesaw State, 11/9/10). Georgia scored 31 points against Mississippi State in the third set a season ago on Nov. 31. That figure now ranks fifth-most in Georgia history.

The fourth set was all Georgia. UGA opened the set with a 9-2 lead. Georgia used the early lead to roll to a 25-13 set four win to earn the four-set victory.