Bulldogs Set for Tournament at Long Beach State

Georgia (2-1)
at Long Beach State Tournament
Dates: Thursday, Sept. 5-Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019
Match Times:
     Thursday, Sept. 5, 9 p.m., ET – vs. UCLA (0-2)
     Friday, Sept. 6, 10 p.m., ET – at Long Beach State (2-1)
     Saturday, Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m., ET – vs. Texas State (1-3)
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Arena: Walter Pyramid

Media Information
Streaming Video: Big West TV (Long Beach State match only)
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com

First Serve
Georgia volleyball travels west to California for a three-match tournament at Long Beach State Thursday-Saturday.

The Bulldogs begin play Thursday against UCLA before playing host Long Beach on Friday. Georgia takes on Texas State Saturday before coming home.

Follow the Bulldogs
» Friday's match against Long Beach will be streamed live on Big West TV.
» Live stats will be available for every match of the Big Orange Bash. Live stat links can be found on the volleyball schedule on GeorgiaDogs.com.
» Twitter updates will be available all season long on the official Twitter page of the Bulldogs, @UGAvolleyball.

BULLDOGS BULLETIN
Series Histories
UCLA
- Georgia trails the all-time series 0-4
- The first-ever meeting came in the Sweet 16 in 1985, UCLA was the #3 national seed and won the match in three sets.
- UCLA was the nation's top team during the meeting in 1991.
- Georgia lost in four sets in 1994.
- The most recent meeting came in 2006, the #3 Bruins won the match in straight sets.
Long Beach State
- First-ever meeting
Texas State
- Georgia leads the all-time series 2-0
- The Bulldogs have swept both meetings, playing the Bobcats in 2006 and 2008 at neutral sites.

A Look Ahead
Georgia travels to Duke University for its third non-conference tournament next weekend. The Bulldogs are slated for two matches on Friday, Sept. 13, first against Northwestern then American University. Georgia takes on the host Blue Devils the next day at 3 p.m.

Let's Recap
Georgia opened the 2019 season at the Big Orange Bash hosted by Clemson last weekend. The Bulldogs lost a tough three-setter to the host Tigers to open the season. On Saturday, Georgia lost the first two sets to Kennesaw State but rebounded to win the match in five for the first win of the season. The Bulldogs then swept Wofford to wrap up play on the weekend. Junior Rachel Ritchie tallied 3.27 kills per set and hit .301 on the weekend while freshman Kacie Evans put up 13 kills, nine digs, and four blocks each of her performances in her Bulldog debut.

Golden State Homecoming
The Georgia volleyball roster features four student-athletes from the state of California, three specifically from the Los Angeles area (Sage Naves, Rachel Ritchie, Kayla Rivera). Head coach Tom Black as well as assistants Aaron Benning and Felicia Turner all hail from California as well.

Helping Hands
Senior setter Meghan Donovan, Georgia's lone senior, enters her final season for Georgia ranking seventh all-time with 3,953 career assists. As a junior, she earned SEC Setter of the Week four times and ranked second in the league with 11.07 assists per set, coming in at 29th nationally. She'll look to become only the sixth Bulldog ever to eclipse the 4,000-assist mark this season.

Looking For A Non-Conference Boost
The Bulldogs will look to have another strong start to the season in non-conference play under Tom Black. In his first two seasons, Georgia has gone 19-5 in non-conference action. In 2017, Georgia was 10-3 while putting up a 9-2 mark a season ago.

O Canada!
In February 2019, Tom Black was named the head coach of the Canadian Women's Indoor National Team. Volleyball Canada won the FIVB Women's Challenger in Lima, Peru in June, qualifying for the Nations League Tournament in 2020. While it did not qualify for Tokyo 2020 in Russia in August, Canada will have another opportunity to qualify in January.

Donovan Trains with USA National Team
Meghan Donovan spent a week in June training with the USA National Team in Anaheim, California. She was one of 28 student-athletes who earned the opportunity and was one of four setters on the roster.

2019 Schedule at a Glance
Twenty-nine matches are featured on the 2019 schedule with 11 set in Athens. The Bulldogs will open the home schedule with a tournament hosting North Carolina State on Sept. 19 and rival Georgia Tech Sept. 20. All home matches will be decided at Stegeman Coliseum once again this season. Southeastern Conference play begins on the road with back-to-back matches at South Carolina (Sept. 27) and Florida (Sept. 29). In all, seven teams on Georgia's 2019 schedule appeared in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and four finished in the AVCA Top 25.

A Look at the 2019 Squad
Georgia's roster features 15 total student-athletes, 10 returning from last season and five newcomers including four freshmen. Setter Meghan Donovan is the lone senior on this season's roster. Donovan enters her final season in the Red and Black ranked seventh all-time with 3,647 career assists. The five-member junior class features outside hitter Rachel Ritchie, Georgia's top returning kills leader (3.35 kills/set), and libero Kendall Glover who ranked top-10 in digs in the Southeastern Conference (4.09 digs/set) in 2018. Newcomers feature junior transfer opposite hitter/middle blocker Kaylah House from Coastal Carolina. Georgia also welcomes four freshmen.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meghan Donovan

Kacie Evans

Kendall Glover

Kaylah House

Sage Powell

Rachel Ritchie

Kayla Rivera