Georgia Concludes Fall Competition at No. 5 Florida

Friday, November 20

Gainesville, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

Florida

Georgia Concludes Fall Competition at No. 5 Florida

November 18, 2020 | Volleyball

Florida Match Notes 112020

Georgia (3-3, 3-3 SEC)
at #5 Florida (5-1, 5-1 SEC)
Dates: Friday, Nov. 20-Saturday, Nov. 21
Times: Friday – 7 p.m.; Saturday – 5 p.m.
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Arena: Extratech Arena

Media Information
TV: SEC Network (Friday)
     Play-by-play: Courtney Lyle
     Analysis: Missy Whittemore
Streaming Video: SEC Network+ (Saturday)
     Play-by-play: Tom Collett
     Analysis: Josh Crow
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter: @UGAvolleyball

First Serve
The Georgia volleyball team will conclude fall competition with a pair of matches at No. 5 Florida Friday and Saturday.

Friday's match will begins at 7 p.m. on SEC Network. The fall finale will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday in Gainesville.

Follow the Bulldogs
» Friday's match is set to air nationally on SEC Network. Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Missy Whittemore (analysis) will be on the call.
» Saturday's match will stream live on SEC Network+. Tom Collett (play-by-play) and Josh Crow (analysis) will be on the call.
» 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 9-66
- Florida has won 19-straight meetings dating back to 2008
- In Gainesville, Florida has won 30 of the 32 meetings
- Georgia took the Gators to five sets in Gainesville in 2018 and took a set on the road last season

Up Next
SEC volleyball teams will participate in spring competition, with details of formats contingent on final decisions by the NCAA to conduct a spring championship.

Let's Recap
Georgia hosted Alabama in the final home matches of the fall Nov. 7 and 8 at Stegeman Coliseum. Alabama opened a 2-0 lead in the first match but Georgia was able to stave off a sweep by winning set three. The Bulldogs were set up to tie up the match in the fourth set, but Alabama surged and stole the set and match away in four sets. Georgia rebounded on Sunday to sweep the Crimson Tide in straight sets. The opening set was the first opening-set win for Georgia this season. Amber Stivrins registered 5.00 kills per set (35 kills) with a .253 hitting clip.

Bulldogs Ink Five in Early Signing Period
The Bulldogs announced the signing of five student-athletes during the early signing period last week. The class includes Under Armour Second Team All-American setter Clara Brower, libero Bailey Cox, middle blocker Kaitlin Fournier, and outside hitters Under Armour All-American honorable mention Abby Maesch and Lyric Stewart.

Volleyball Scores Perfect 100 on Latest GSR Report
University of Georgia student-athletes set an all-time record with an 87% graduation rate according to the annual NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) released Tuesday by the NCAA. Five Georgia teams scored a perfect 100 on the GSR report: women's golf, gymnastics, women's swimming and diving, women's tennis, and volleyball.

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 eight 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.