University of Georgia Athletics
Friday, September 21
Athens, Ga.
7 p.m.
University of Georgia
3
vs
2
LSU
Photo by: Caitlyn Tam
Georgia Secures First SEC Win Over LSU in Five-Set Thriller, 3-2
September 21, 2018 | Volleyball
ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia volleyball (10-1, 1-0) secured its first Southeastern Conference (SEC) win Friday evening over LSU (5-7, 0-1) in Stegeman Coliseum in front of a crowd of 2,178.
Three Georgia players reached a double-digit kill marks in Friday's match. Rachel Richie earned a season-high of 24 kills, along with T'ara Ceasar getting her season-high and fifth 20-kill match (24) along with Majesti Bass recording 12 kills.
As a team, Georgia recorded 75 kills in Friday's match. The mark is the second most in Georgia rally scoring history for a five-set affair. The record is 77 against Mississippi State (10/3/10).
Defensively, Anna Kate Karstens tied a season high with seven blocks while three Bulldogs reached double-digit digs marks: Kendall Glover (16), Meghan Donovan (10), and Sydney Gilliam (10). It was Donovan's fifth double-double of the season as she tied a career-high 57 assists.
Ritchie recorded her first kill of the match with a slam over the net to put the Bulldogs up 7-5 against the Tigers in the opening stanza. Back-and-forth action between the two teams ended with perfect placement from Donovan to gain back the lead 11-10. The Bulldogs went on a 5-1 run sending the Bulldogs into match point, 24-20. Georgia closed out the set with another kill from Ceasar to claim game one, 25-21.
Ceasar opened the match with six opening-set kills while hitting .500 in the set. As a team, Georgia's best hitting set of the evening was the first, hitting .361.
Ceasar's seventh kill of the match gave Georgia a lead of 6-3. LSU was forced to take a timeout after the Bulldogs gained back-to-back points, putting up an 11-6 lead. A 5-0 run by LSU forced Georgia to take a timeout holding on to one-point lead of 15-14. LSU came out of the timeout taking the next two points, but Ceasar ended the Tigers' 7-0 run with a kill, tying up set two, 16-16. After being down 18-20 to the Tigers, Georgia used a 4-1 run to tie up the set at 22, forcing LSU to use its last timeout. A block by Karstens and Donovan drew set point. After back and forth game-point action between the Bulldogs and Tigers. Ceasar's 16th kill of the match, 10th of the set, secured the 34-32 set two win for Georgia and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Georgia's 34 points in set two tied for second all-time in points scored in a set in Georgia history, tying the fourth set against Alabama on Nov. 9, 2008. The record is 36, set at Northern Colorado on Sept. 4, 2010.
LSU maintained a 9-7 lead over Georgia early in the third set. Richie tied it up at 14-14 with her 15th kill of the match. A 4-0 run by LSU forced Georgia to take its final timeout of the frame, down 18-14. LSU stayed alive in the match with a 25-18 win in the third.
Ceasar laid down back-to-back aces, giving Georgia the lead 6-4 early in the fourth set. LSU used a 6-1 to jump out to a 16-10 lead on the Bulldogs. The Tigers cruised to a 25-16 win in the fourth to force a decisive fifth and final set.
Entering the final frame, Georgia and LSU kept it neck-and-neck with an early tie, 3-3. Georgia took three of the next four points to take a 7-4 lead. The Bulldogs led 8-6 at the end change. LSU pulled within one of the lead, 11-10, forcing Georgia to use a timeout. The Bulldogs captured four of the final five serves to win the match in the fifth, 15-11.
Georgia will look to gain its first SEC road win as it travels to College Station, Texas to play Texas A&M, Sunday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m. at Reed Arena. The match will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.
Head Coach Tom Black
On opening up SEC play with a win…
"Every conference win is huge. Every game is going to be a battle and they all mean a ton to both teams, so it is always huge."
On gaining a win in the last set and what the team learned…
"I think we learned a lot. I think the two matches that we've lost this season felt pretty similar, so we started getting really higher and we weren't able to recover. I think the fact that we were able to fight out of it shows a lot of growth for this team and I am very proud of that response."
On huge turnout for first home SEC match…
"The crowd was awesome. We are excited. The crowd is growing, and it can grow even more. This is such a great game to watch, and the environment is awesome, and the crowd helps make it electric. We hope they keep coming out and grow, and we would love to fill this entire lower bowl and just make this the best environment in the country."
Three Georgia players reached a double-digit kill marks in Friday's match. Rachel Richie earned a season-high of 24 kills, along with T'ara Ceasar getting her season-high and fifth 20-kill match (24) along with Majesti Bass recording 12 kills.
As a team, Georgia recorded 75 kills in Friday's match. The mark is the second most in Georgia rally scoring history for a five-set affair. The record is 77 against Mississippi State (10/3/10).
Defensively, Anna Kate Karstens tied a season high with seven blocks while three Bulldogs reached double-digit digs marks: Kendall Glover (16), Meghan Donovan (10), and Sydney Gilliam (10). It was Donovan's fifth double-double of the season as she tied a career-high 57 assists.
Ritchie recorded her first kill of the match with a slam over the net to put the Bulldogs up 7-5 against the Tigers in the opening stanza. Back-and-forth action between the two teams ended with perfect placement from Donovan to gain back the lead 11-10. The Bulldogs went on a 5-1 run sending the Bulldogs into match point, 24-20. Georgia closed out the set with another kill from Ceasar to claim game one, 25-21.
Ceasar opened the match with six opening-set kills while hitting .500 in the set. As a team, Georgia's best hitting set of the evening was the first, hitting .361.
Ceasar's seventh kill of the match gave Georgia a lead of 6-3. LSU was forced to take a timeout after the Bulldogs gained back-to-back points, putting up an 11-6 lead. A 5-0 run by LSU forced Georgia to take a timeout holding on to one-point lead of 15-14. LSU came out of the timeout taking the next two points, but Ceasar ended the Tigers' 7-0 run with a kill, tying up set two, 16-16. After being down 18-20 to the Tigers, Georgia used a 4-1 run to tie up the set at 22, forcing LSU to use its last timeout. A block by Karstens and Donovan drew set point. After back and forth game-point action between the Bulldogs and Tigers. Ceasar's 16th kill of the match, 10th of the set, secured the 34-32 set two win for Georgia and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Georgia's 34 points in set two tied for second all-time in points scored in a set in Georgia history, tying the fourth set against Alabama on Nov. 9, 2008. The record is 36, set at Northern Colorado on Sept. 4, 2010.
LSU maintained a 9-7 lead over Georgia early in the third set. Richie tied it up at 14-14 with her 15th kill of the match. A 4-0 run by LSU forced Georgia to take its final timeout of the frame, down 18-14. LSU stayed alive in the match with a 25-18 win in the third.
Ceasar laid down back-to-back aces, giving Georgia the lead 6-4 early in the fourth set. LSU used a 6-1 to jump out to a 16-10 lead on the Bulldogs. The Tigers cruised to a 25-16 win in the fourth to force a decisive fifth and final set.
Entering the final frame, Georgia and LSU kept it neck-and-neck with an early tie, 3-3. Georgia took three of the next four points to take a 7-4 lead. The Bulldogs led 8-6 at the end change. LSU pulled within one of the lead, 11-10, forcing Georgia to use a timeout. The Bulldogs captured four of the final five serves to win the match in the fifth, 15-11.
Georgia will look to gain its first SEC road win as it travels to College Station, Texas to play Texas A&M, Sunday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m. at Reed Arena. The match will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.
Head Coach Tom Black
On opening up SEC play with a win…
"Every conference win is huge. Every game is going to be a battle and they all mean a ton to both teams, so it is always huge."
On gaining a win in the last set and what the team learned…
"I think we learned a lot. I think the two matches that we've lost this season felt pretty similar, so we started getting really higher and we weren't able to recover. I think the fact that we were able to fight out of it shows a lot of growth for this team and I am very proud of that response."
On huge turnout for first home SEC match…
"The crowd was awesome. We are excited. The crowd is growing, and it can grow even more. This is such a great game to watch, and the environment is awesome, and the crowd helps make it electric. We hope they keep coming out and grow, and we would love to fill this entire lower bowl and just make this the best environment in the country."
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballGeorgia Volleyball vs Texas Postgame Interview- Coach Black
Wednesday, October 01
Georgia Volleyball vs Georgia Southern - Postgame Recap
Saturday, September 13
Georgia Volleyball vs Presbyterian College - Postgame Recap
Friday, September 12
Georgia Volleyball vs Duke - Postgame Recap
Friday, September 05