Georgia Defeats North Carolina in Four Sets

Sunday, September 9

Boulder, Colo.

1 p.m.

University of Georgia

8-1

North Carolina

3-5

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Georgia	25	25	22	25	3
North Carolina	17	21	25	17	1

Photo by: Kristin M. Bradshaw

September 09, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score North Carolina Box Score

BOULDER, Colo. – Georgia volleyball finished play at the Buffs Invitational with a four-set victory over North Carolina (3-5) Sunday at the CU Events Center (25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17).

The Bulldogs finish the weekend 2-1 and improve to 8-1 on the season. T'ara Ceasar was named the Tournament MVP and Majesti Bass and Kendall Glover earned All-Tournament honors. Ceasar led the tournament with 4.38 kills/set. Bass concluded tournament play with 2.69 kills/set with a .329 hitting clip. Glover finished second with 3.85 digs/set.

"We knew we would learn a lot playing a strong tournament like this and we certainly did," said head coach Tom Black. "A very tough loss yesterday followed by a response the ladies and team should be proud of. We'll take the lessons from this weekend and keep working."

Georgia had four reach the double-digit kill mark Sunday, led by Ceasar with 14. Rachel Ritchie was close behind with 13 while Bass finished with 12. Freshman Mallory Hernandez recorded a season-high 10 kills.

Defensively, Glover led with 11 digs as Ceasar and Meghan Donovan had nine on the afternoon. Anna Kate Karstens recorded four aces Sunday.

North Carolina led briefly to start the match before back-to-back aces by Karstens put the Bulldogs back in front, 7-6. Georgia never gave up the lead after that. The set finished with a 7-1 Georgia run, 25-17. Ceasar, Bass, and Hernandez all had four kills in the opening frame.

The Bulldogs and Tar Heels exchanged points to begin the second set until UNC took an 11-9 lead, prompting a timeout from Georgia. The Bulldogs took the next three points out of the timeout to take a 12-11 lead and force UNC to call time. Georgia continued to build on the lead en route to a 25-21 win in the second to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Ritchie's double-digit kill streak stayed intact as she recorded nine kills in the second set while hitting .818; heading into the third, she had 11 kills to lead the team.

Georgia used a six-point run in the third to capture a 13-8 lead on the Tar Heels. UNC worked to erase the lead and each team began going point-for-point. UNC recaptured the lead at 21-19 and Georgia used its final timeout. The surging Tar Heels swiped the third set from the Bulldogs, 25-22.

North Carolina led the Bulldogs early in the fourth set until Georgia used an 8-1 run to take a 19-14 lead. The sudden Bulldog offensive attack was too much for the Tar Heels as Georgia secured the victory with a 25-17 set four win. Bass wrapped up the match with five kills in the fourth set.

Volleyball wraps up non-conference play next weekend at the Georgia Tech Classic. The Bulldogs and YellowJackets play Friday evening at 7 p.m. in O'Keefe Gymnasium.