Wednesday, September 28
Athens, Ga.
7:00 p.m.
University of Georgia
10-3,1-1SEC
3
vs
2
South Carolina
7-6,1-2SEC
1
2
3
4
5
F
South Carolina
25
20
23
26
12
2
Georgia
23
25
25
24
15
3
Georgia Wins Five-Set Thriller Against Gamecocks
September 28, 2022 | Volleyball
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia women's volleyball team earned its first SEC win of the season, taking down the South Carolina Gamecocks in five sets Wednesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 15-12).
Georgia (10-3, 1-1) tallied 24 team blocks in the match, shattering the previous record of 20 set on Sept. 20, 2014 against Southern Miss. Junior Sophie Fischer put up 15 blocks, breaking Georgia's individual record of 14 set by Desiree McCray on Sept. 13, 2014 against NC State. Offensively, Fischer added 10 kills for her first career double-double.
Senior Kacie Evans had 19 kills with 11 digs for her second-straight double-double. She added seven blocks in the match.
Redshirt-sophomore Mackenzie Norris picked up a career-best 12 kills, narrowly missing a double-double of her own with nine blocks. Senior Meghan Froemming contributed nine blocks in the match as well.
Redshirt-junior setter Alexa Fortin recorded her first double-double of the season, handing out 21 assists with 16 digs. Sophomore Clara Brower dished out 27 assists with three aces.
The opening stanza began with both squads going point-for-point. Three-straight points aided the Gamecocks in holding a 15-13 lead going into the first set media break. The Gamecocks opened a five-point lead on the Dogs, prompting a Georgia timeout down 21-16. The Bulldogs used four-straight points out of the timeout to cut the lead to one, 21-20. Georgia continued to battle, knotting the set at 23-all, forcing South Carolina's final timeout. The Gamecocks held on to take the opening stanza 25-23. Evans tallies six kills to begin the match.
Like set one, set two began tightly contested until a 6-1 Georgia run opened an 18-13 lead for the Bulldogs. Georgia kept its foot on the gas to find a six-point advantage at 23-17, exhausting South Carolina's final timeout. Three Bulldog errors after the break allowed South Carolina to come within three, 23-20. A Fischer kill and an Evans ace secured the set for the Dogs, 25-20, and tying the match.
A 7-0 run early in the third set fueled Georgia to an 8-2 lead, spending both Gamecocks timeouts early. Georgia kept its offense firing, widening its lead to 23-15. A late South Carolina run nearly erased Georgia's lead to 23-21. Georgia fended off the advancing Gamecocks to win the third set 25-23, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs came out strong in the fourth set, going up 6-1 on the Gamecocks. South Carolina used a 7-1 run to tie the set at 13-all, erasing Georgia's early advantage. An all-out battle ensued with Georgia looking for a victory and South Carolina looking to stay alive. Tied at 22, the Gamecocks won four of the last six points to take the set 26-24, forcing a fifth set. Georgia put up nine blocks in the fourth set.
Georgia's 23rd block of the match opened the fifth set. South Carolina led 8-6 at the end change but three-straight thereafter including back-to-back Brower aces, put Georgia in front 9-8 in the decisive set. While the set would be tied up three more times, Georgia used a 4-1 run late in the fifth to take the set 15-12 and the match. Georgia's 24th team block secured the five-set victory.
The Bulldogs host the Texas A&M Aggies this Saturday and Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum. First serve is Saturday is set for 2 p.m. Sunday's match will begin at 12 p.m. live on SEC Network. Admission is free.
Head Coach Tom Black
On the match....
"I'm really proud of how our team played and how we responded. They kept fighting, kept making changes and stayed really connected. Those things are huge in these kind of battles."
On Sophie Fischer...
"Sophie (Fischer) is just scratching the surface. You can see how dominate she's capable of being. She was absolutely a force at the net and offensively. I think between her offense, her blocking, and serving, she's just scratching the surface of how dominate of a player she can be."
On how to use this momentum moving forward...
"We have to process this match. We have a day to recover, and we'll get a little bit better. We have two hard battles this weekend, so we'll keep going."
Junior Sophie Fischer
On the match...
"They're a really good team. We've been preparing a lot and working on the little things this past week since Mississippi State. Overall, we did really well. We did the little things right. Our serve receive- we've been working a lot on that- and that was really good today."
On breaking the record for individual blocks in a match...
"We've just been working on it a lot in practice, just going out there and showing strong from the beginning. It's just about a lot of eye work and stuff in practice that we've been doing."
On what the team can take into the weekend matches against Texas A&M...
"Definitely continuing with our service pressure and the blocks and our offensive pressure. We just need to keep it going and keep practicing and get after it this weekend.
Georgia (10-3, 1-1) tallied 24 team blocks in the match, shattering the previous record of 20 set on Sept. 20, 2014 against Southern Miss. Junior Sophie Fischer put up 15 blocks, breaking Georgia's individual record of 14 set by Desiree McCray on Sept. 13, 2014 against NC State. Offensively, Fischer added 10 kills for her first career double-double.
Senior Kacie Evans had 19 kills with 11 digs for her second-straight double-double. She added seven blocks in the match.
Redshirt-sophomore Mackenzie Norris picked up a career-best 12 kills, narrowly missing a double-double of her own with nine blocks. Senior Meghan Froemming contributed nine blocks in the match as well.
Redshirt-junior setter Alexa Fortin recorded her first double-double of the season, handing out 21 assists with 16 digs. Sophomore Clara Brower dished out 27 assists with three aces.
The opening stanza began with both squads going point-for-point. Three-straight points aided the Gamecocks in holding a 15-13 lead going into the first set media break. The Gamecocks opened a five-point lead on the Dogs, prompting a Georgia timeout down 21-16. The Bulldogs used four-straight points out of the timeout to cut the lead to one, 21-20. Georgia continued to battle, knotting the set at 23-all, forcing South Carolina's final timeout. The Gamecocks held on to take the opening stanza 25-23. Evans tallies six kills to begin the match.
Like set one, set two began tightly contested until a 6-1 Georgia run opened an 18-13 lead for the Bulldogs. Georgia kept its foot on the gas to find a six-point advantage at 23-17, exhausting South Carolina's final timeout. Three Bulldog errors after the break allowed South Carolina to come within three, 23-20. A Fischer kill and an Evans ace secured the set for the Dogs, 25-20, and tying the match.
A 7-0 run early in the third set fueled Georgia to an 8-2 lead, spending both Gamecocks timeouts early. Georgia kept its offense firing, widening its lead to 23-15. A late South Carolina run nearly erased Georgia's lead to 23-21. Georgia fended off the advancing Gamecocks to win the third set 25-23, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs came out strong in the fourth set, going up 6-1 on the Gamecocks. South Carolina used a 7-1 run to tie the set at 13-all, erasing Georgia's early advantage. An all-out battle ensued with Georgia looking for a victory and South Carolina looking to stay alive. Tied at 22, the Gamecocks won four of the last six points to take the set 26-24, forcing a fifth set. Georgia put up nine blocks in the fourth set.
Georgia's 23rd block of the match opened the fifth set. South Carolina led 8-6 at the end change but three-straight thereafter including back-to-back Brower aces, put Georgia in front 9-8 in the decisive set. While the set would be tied up three more times, Georgia used a 4-1 run late in the fifth to take the set 15-12 and the match. Georgia's 24th team block secured the five-set victory.
The Bulldogs host the Texas A&M Aggies this Saturday and Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum. First serve is Saturday is set for 2 p.m. Sunday's match will begin at 12 p.m. live on SEC Network. Admission is free.
Head Coach Tom Black
On the match....
"I'm really proud of how our team played and how we responded. They kept fighting, kept making changes and stayed really connected. Those things are huge in these kind of battles."
On Sophie Fischer...
"Sophie (Fischer) is just scratching the surface. You can see how dominate she's capable of being. She was absolutely a force at the net and offensively. I think between her offense, her blocking, and serving, she's just scratching the surface of how dominate of a player she can be."
On how to use this momentum moving forward...
"We have to process this match. We have a day to recover, and we'll get a little bit better. We have two hard battles this weekend, so we'll keep going."
Junior Sophie Fischer
On the match...
"They're a really good team. We've been preparing a lot and working on the little things this past week since Mississippi State. Overall, we did really well. We did the little things right. Our serve receive- we've been working a lot on that- and that was really good today."
On breaking the record for individual blocks in a match...
"We've just been working on it a lot in practice, just going out there and showing strong from the beginning. It's just about a lot of eye work and stuff in practice that we've been doing."
On what the team can take into the weekend matches against Texas A&M...
"Definitely continuing with our service pressure and the blocks and our offensive pressure. We just need to keep it going and keep practicing and get after it this weekend.
Team Stats
USC
UGa
Kills
51
57
Errors
40
39
Attempts
179
159
Hitting %
.061
.113
Points
73
88
Assists
44
56
Aces
4
7
Blocks
18
24
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
2
Blocks
7
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
9
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
15
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OPP
/ VolleyballMB
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