Georgia Travels to Knoxville for Midweek Matches

Georgia (1-1, 1-1 SEC)
at Tennessee (0-2, 0-2 SEC)
Dates: Wednesday, Oct. 28-Thursday, Oct. 29
Times: Wednesday – 7 p.m.; Thursday – 7 p.m.
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena

Media Information
Streaming Video: ESPN app
TV: ESPNU (Wednesday)
     Play-by-play: Eric Frede
     Analysis: Katie George
TV: SEC Network (Thursday)
     Play-by-play: Paul Sunderland
     Analysis: Jenny Hazelwood
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter: @UGAvolleyball

First Serve
The Georgia volleyball team travels to Knoxville, Tennessee for its first road matches of 2020 this week. The Bulldogs will take on the Tennessee Lady Vols Wednesday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Oct. 29 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Wednesday's match will air on ESPNU while Thursday's will air on SEC Network. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m., ET.

Follow the Bulldogs
» Wednesday's match is set to air nationally on ESPNU. Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Katie George (analysis) will be on the call.
» Thursday's match is set to air nationally on SEC Network. Paul Sunderland (play-by-play) and Jenny Hazelwood (analysis) will be on the call.
» Both matches will stream live on the ESPN app.
» 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 History
- Georgia trails the all-time series against the Lady Vols, 30-43
- In Knoxville, Georgia trails the series 12-21
- The Bulldogs and Lady Vols have split the last 10 meetings; however, Georgia has won three of the last four matches
- Georgia defeated Tennessee in both matches last season, each in four sets; it was the first time Georgia swept a home-and-home with Tennessee since 2013

Up Next
Georgia returns home to Stegeman Coliseum Nov. 7-8 to host the Alabama Crimson Tide. Both matches will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday's match will air on SEC Network.

Let's Recap
The Bulldogs opened the 2020 season splitting a pair of matches at Stegeman Coliseum with South Carolina. The Gamecocks swept the Bulldogs in the season opener on Saturday. Despite dropping the opening set of Sunday's match, Georgia bounced back to defeat South Carolina in four sets. Sophomore Amber Stivrins powered the Bulldogs to victory with 26 kills in Sunday's win. As a team, Georgia hit .323 in the match.

Stivrins Shines on Opening Weekend
Sophomore outside hitter Amber Stivrins put together a strong performance in her first weekend as a Bulldogs against South Carolina. Stivrins concluded the weekend with 34 kills, including a career-high 26 coming in Sunday's match (second all-time in a four-set match). She hit .564 in that match. She also put up a team-best 20 digs over the weekend while also recording three aces.

Black Notches 300th Career Victory
Head coach Tom Black, in his 16th season as a head coach, recorded his 300th career victory on Sunday, Oct. 18 with a four-set victory over South Carolina. In 11 seasons at the Division I level, he has accumulated 186 wins and 60 in four seasons at Georgia. Black is fifth among the active head coaches in the SEC behind Mary Wise (Florida), Fran Flory (LSU), Craig Skinner (Kentucky), and Lindsey Devine (Alabama).

Bulldogs Receiving Votes in AVCA Poll
The Georgia volleyball team has received votes in all four AVCA Coaches Polls this season. The poll ranks the Top 15 among teams competing this fall. The SEC has four teams represented in the top 15 with three more receiving votes.

Georgia Volleyball is #VoteReady
The Georgia volleyball team is 100 percent registered to vote in the upcoming November election. Additionally, on Saturday, Oct. 24, members of the volleyball, women's basketball, and women's cross country teams volunteered at early polling locations around Athens assisting with line management.

2020 SEC Schedule Setup
The 2020 SEC volleyball season will consist of an eight-match, Conference-only schedule over six weeks of competition beginning October 16 with each school competing against four opponents twice in the same weekend on back-to-back days. SEC volleyball teams will participate in spring competition as well, with details of formats contingent on final decisions by the NCAA to conduct a spring championship.

Georgia Picked Sixth in SEC Preseason Poll
The Bulldogs were picked sixth in the SEC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Georgia finished fifth in 2019 with a 12-6 record. Kentucky was picked to win the league in 2020.

The Bulldogs at Home
Georgia concluded the 2019 home schedule with a 7-4 record. In the first three seasons under Tom Black, Georgia has notched a record at home of 25-15. Season one saw Georgia go 12-5 in Athens. The 2018 season was the first full-time season for Georgia volleyball in Stegeman Coliseum as Georgia went .500 at 6-6. In home-opening tournaments the last two seasons, the Bulldogs are 7-0.

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 2019, qualifying for the Nations League Tournament in 2020; unfortunately, the VNL was canceled due to COVID-19.

A Look at the 2020 Squad
Georgia's roster features 18 total student-athletes, the largest roster in the history of the program. The squad is a near-perfect mix of classes (4 seniors, 5 juniors, 5 sophomores, 4 freshmen). Five starters return from the 2019 NCAA Tournament squad including SEC Freshman of the Year Kacie Evans and Rachel Ritchie on the outside as well as Sage Naves and Kianna Young in the middle with Kayla Rivera on the opposite pin. Claire Rothenberger is expected to fill the libero jersey following the graduation of Kendall Glover. Setting duties will be taken over by Dalaney Hans and Brynn Chandler as All-SEC setter Meghan Donovan graduated in May. Louisville transfer Amber Stivrins will bolster Georgia's outside attack while freshman middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye looks to makes some noise in the middle during her rookie season.

Bulldogs Earn USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award Recognition
Georgia earned recognition from the United States Marine Corps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for outstanding work in the classroom during the 2019-20 academic year. The USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award was the latest of several academic achievements during the year for the Bulldogs volleyball team, including a 3.371 team GPA. Seven members of the team earned spots on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and all four members of the freshman class appeared on the SEC First-Year Academic Honor including a 4.0 GPA by Londyn Gray in her first year at Georgia. Volleyball was also one of three UGA programs to be recognized by the NCAA for outstanding achievement in the annual NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) report, announced in May.

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Players Mentioned

Phoebe Awoleye

Brynn Chandler

Meghan Donovan

Kacie Evans

Kendall Glover

Londyn Gray

Dalaney Hans

Sage Powell

Rachel Ritchie

Kayla Rivera

Claire Rothenberger

Amber Stivrins

Kianna Young

University of Georgia Athletics