Georgia Defeats Rebels in Friday Matinee, 3-1

Friday, November 18

Athens, Ga.

12:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

19-7,10-5SEC

Ole Miss

11-14,7-8SEC

Ole Miss

Georgia

November 18, 2022 | Volleyball

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia women's volleyball team beat the Ole Miss Rebels in four sets Friday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum (23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20).

Georgia improves to 19-7 on the season and 10-5 in SEC play. This is the third time in Tom Black's tenure the Bulldogs have reached the 10-win mark in conference play (2017, 2019, 2022).

Junior Sophie Fischer and senior Kacie Evans paced Georgia's offense with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Fischer hit .524 in the match. Senior Amber Stivrins hit .421 in the match with eight kills and no errors.

At the service line, Georgia recorded eight aces as a team, led by four from Evans. Mackenzie Norris extended her streak to 11-straight matches with an ace.

Defensively, libero Bailey Cox led the team with nine digs followed by eight from Malloy Downing. Five Bulldogs recorded five or more digs in the match. At the net, Fischer put up six blocks while freshman Tori Harper had five.

Ole Miss (11-14, 7-8) used a 3-0 run to open a five-point lead early in the opening set, forcing a Bulldog timeout down 11-6. A 5-1 run, capped by back-to-back Evans aces, cut the Rebel lead to one, 15-14. The Dogs made a late push, taking three-of-four points, to cut the lead to 23-22 and force a Rebel timeout. After a call was reversed in favor of Georgia to make it 24-23, Ole Miss held on to win the set 25-23.

A five-point run opened a quick 5-1 lead for Georgia in set two. Despite Ole Miss cutting the lead to one, Georgia led 15-11 at the media timeout. Georgia's fourth block of the match drew its 20^th point of the set and an Ole Miss timeout, 20-16. Georgia rolled to a 25-21 set two win to tie the match.

Georgia used three-straight points to open a 12-8 lead in the third set, forcing an Ole Miss break. A Bulldog block after the timeout widened the lead to five. Georgia found itself ahead 16-11 after both teams traded 3-0 runs and a timeout each. An 8-1 run propelled Georgia to drawing set point en route to a 25-16 win in the third to go ahead in the match. Georgia hit .450 in the third as a team with four service aces.

After a drawn-out back-and-forth start to the fourth set, a 7-0 run put Georgia ahead 18-12. Georgia kept its foot on the gas to take the set 25-20 and the match in four sets.

Georgia will host Ole Miss in the home finale Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs and Rebels will serve it up at 3 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to celebrate seniors as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to the match.

Head coach Tom Black
On the highlights of the match…
"I thought we got better as the match went on. Our offense with Sophie (Fischer) really started to click. I thought Kacie Evans did a really good job passing the ball. Mallory Downing had a good defensive game also. I think we got our opposites going a bit more than we did in the past. It's good to add that dimension to our offense."

Junior Sophie Fischer
On the match overall…
"I think that we still had another level that we could have reached today. We had good serving, and then, our blocking started to pick up. The setter connection between a lot of people was just good today. We still have a lot more to do tomorrow."

On her emotions with this being the last match weekend in Stegeman…
"I don't think it's really kicked in. Even though I have a couple more years, this is my first year playing with this group. It's pretty sad because it feels like I've been playing with them for four years. I think it's going to be an emotional day, but it's going to get us together more and make us fight even harder for each other one last time here in Stegeman."