Georgia Sweeps Mississippi State on the Road, 3-0

Friday, October 6

Starkville, Miss.

7 p.m.

University of Georgia

10-6,1-3SEC

Mississippi State

8-7,1-4SEC

Georgia

Mississippi St.

October 06, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of Georgia volleyball team earned its first SEC victory of the season Friday evening, sweeping Mississippi State on the road in straight sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-16).

Georgia improves to 10-6 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

The University of Georgia Athletic Association has announced on Friday that Georgia volleyball will return to Stegeman Coliseum for competition beginning Sunday, Oct. 15 when the Bulldogs host LSU. The volleyball team has competed in Ramsey Student Center while renovations have been completed to Stegeman. The Bulldogs played a total of seven matches at Ramsey in 2023.

Sophie Fischer had a huge match, putting up 16 kills in just three sets, hitting .448. Kacie Evans also tallied a double-digit kill performance with 12. Freshman Ceci Gooch recorded eight kills, hitting .500.

Defensively, Fischer put up six blocks followed by three from each Gooch and Estelle Haugen. Libero Mallory Downing recorded 10 digs while Haugen had nine.

Mississippi State (8-7, 1-4) came out strong in the opening set, taking a 7-2 lead. Georgia won four of five points to cut the lead to 9-7, but three-straight MSU points reopened a five-point lead for the Bulldogs from Starkville. Down 17-10, Georgia began to slow the opposing offense, winning seven of the next nine points to slice the lead to 19-17. Three-straight from Georgia, capped by an Erica Staunton kill, erased the deficit, and tied the set at 20. A Fischer kill tied it again at 22 then back-to-back Evans kills drew set point for Georgia, 24-23. Gooch finished the set putting back an overpass to win 25-23. She finished with five kills to begin the match on seven swings and no errors out of the middle.

A great serving run by Bailey Cox including a pair of aces opened a 7-0 lead for Georgia in the second set. MSU worked to cut the lead to three, 10-7, but Georgia responded with a 6-2 run to reopen a 16-9 lead. With Georgia ahead 21-14, MSU rattled off four straight points out of a timeout to cut the lead to 21-18 and prompt a Georgia timeout. The Dogs held on to win the set 25-20, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

After Georgia began the third set 3-0, MSU quickly worked to tie it at 4-all. Later tied at 12, an 8-1 Georgia run put the Bulldogs in the lead 20-13. In that run, Fischer tallied four kills while Evans had three. Ahead 20-15, the Bulldogs concluded the set and the match on a 5-1 run to win the frame 25-16 and secure the sweep.

Next up, Georgia concludes its road swing Wednesday, Oct. 11 in Columbia, South Carolina taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks. The 6 p.m. match will air live on ESPNU.