Bulldogs Defeat Tigers in Four, Sweeps Weekend Series in Athens

Sunday, November 14

Athens, Ga.

12:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

10-15,6-8SEC

Missouri

4-24,1-14SEC

Missouri

Georgia

Bulldogs Defeat Tigers in Four, Sweeps Weekend Series in Athens

November 14, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia women's volleyball team downed the Missouri Tigers in four sets Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum (25-19, 26-24, 21-25, 25-16). The win secured the weekend series sweep of the Tigers after beating Missouri in three on Saturday.

Once again, the offense was led by junior Kacie Evans' 18 kills. She added three service aces and five digs to her stat line. Fellow junior Amber Stivrins tallied 14 kills, eight of which came in the final set. Senior Kayla Rivera also topped the double-digit kill mark with 10.

Freshmen Bailey Cox and Clara Brower co-led the team with 14 digs. Brower earned her fourth double-double with 22 assists. On the net, sophomore Phoebe Awoleye put up five blocks.

Georgia (10-15, 6-8) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and continued to build on the advantage, leading 15-10 at the first set media timeout. The Bulldogs took the next three points after the media timeout to widen their lead to eight, 18-10. Missouri (4-24, 1-14) closed the gap at the end of the stanza, but Georgia held on to take the first, 25-19. Evans tallied eight kills in the first set and hit .538.

The second set started close between the Bulldogs and Tigers until Georgia strung together three-straight to open an 8-4 lead. A 5-1 run from Missouri cut into Georgia's lead, but the Bulldogs held on to lead at the media break, 15-12. Missouri tied it up at 17 and a back-and-forth battle ensued. Three-straight capped by a Cox ace put Georgia ahead 22-19 and prompted Missouri's final timeout. Missouri battled to tie the set at 24 but Georgia was able to hold on and take the set 26-24 and a 2-0 lead in the match. Despite six ties in the set, Georgia never trailed.

Missouri used its late momentum from set two to come out strong in the third, leading by as much as three, 11-8. Georgia regrouped to go on a 5-0 run to take a 13-11 lead and prompt a Missouri timeout. Georgia errors allowed Missouri to take four-straight and go back in front 18-16. The Tigers never trailed the remainder of the set and took the third 25-21 to force a fourth set.

The Bulldogs went on an 11-1 run to open a hefty 14-4 lead on the Tigers in set four. Georgia used the early lead to roll to a 25-16 win in set four, securing the match win in four sets.

Georgia is back in action on the road with a pair of matches at Ole Miss Thursday and Friday. Both matches will state at 7 p.m., ET, from Oxford, Mississippi.

Head Women's Volleyball Coach Tom Black
On the team's improvements this week since the Kentucky match…
"I didn't think we played that bad against Kentucky. I thought they played great. I thought we got better as the Kentucky match went on, and some of those plays carried over. I think the biggest change I've seen is our transition offense. We've been able to keep more consistent offensive pressure, and that's a big deal for us."

On keeping up the energy and intensity on the road…
"I thought we were pretty low intensity today. I thought we picked it up a little bit in the fourth. That's something we're continuing to build. It's been much better these past few weeks."

Junior outside hitter Kacie Evans
On what contributed to her strong weekend performance…
"I just want to give a shoutout to both the setters, Clara Brower and Dalaney Hans. I couldn't have done it without them and their speed and precision on the ball. That really helped me a lot. We were just connecting throughout the match. Just to take into the next opponents, they're ony going to get stronger and stronger. It's the SEC, and we're in it for a reason. If tonight was a battle, then the next four matches are also going to be a battle. We need to keep the mindset of being tough and being aggressive."

On what contributed to the team's recent success…
"Our transition work is getting a lot better. We're hitting a lot more balls in transition. We're blocking a lot more balls when they're in transition. That's a lot of our success right now. We were struggling with out of system blocks, and we're getting a lot more of that. I also think offensively the last two games, we've been really powerful. It just really shows what kind of a team we are."