Bulldogs Split on Day Two of Classic City Clash

Saturday, August 26

Athens, Ga.

10:30 a.m.

University of Georgia

2-0,0-0SEC

Western Carolina

0-2,0-0SoCon

Western Caro.

Georgia

August 26, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia volleyball team split a pair of matches Saturday at Ramsey Student Center, first sweeping Western Carolina then falling to Florida State in straight sets in the nightcap.

Georgia concludes opening weekend 2-1.

Georgia 3, Western Carolina 0
The Bulldogs picked up their second-straight sweep (25-16, 25-12, 25-22) to open the season with a 3-0 win over Western Carolina (0-2) to begin the day. Sophie Fischer tied a career-high 18 kills in the match, hitting .500. She also put up three blocks to lead the category.

Estelle Haugen added six kills for the offense while Tori Harper put up five. Setter Clara Brower handed out 29 assists as the Bulldogs hit .279 in the match. Brower was responsible for half of Georgia's six aces in the match.

Along with Fischer, three other Bulldogs added two blocks each. Libero Mallory Downing recorded 10 digs while Brower had nine, narrowly missing a double-double in the match.

Georgia never trailed in the first two sets. Georgia slowly built on an early lead in the opening stanza and never took its foot off the gas en route to taking the set 25-16. Haugen came out strong in the match with four first set kills with a .375 clip.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a very quick 10-1 lead in the second and never looked back. Ahead 15-8, six-straight widened the UGA lead to 21-8, capped by a Brower ace. Western Carolina took four of the next five rallies to cut the lead back to 10, 22-12, but Georgia responded with three-straight, sealing the set with a Downing ace, 25-12.

Finding themselves down 12-5 in the third, the Catamounts called a timeout. After the break, WCU began chipping away at the Bulldog lead, narrowing the deficit to 15-13 and prompting a UGA timeout. WCU found its first lead of the match after three-straight points, taking the 17-16 lead. The teams exchanged points down the stretch. With WCU up 22-21, Georgia regrouped to take a 23-22 lead as Western Carolina called its final timeout. Fischer came out of the break with back-to-back kills to secure the 25-22 set win and the sweep of the match. Exactly half of Fischer's kill count came in the final set with nine.

Florida State 3, Georgia 0
The Bulldogs couldn't hold off a strong offensive performance from the Seminoles (2-0) in their last match of the Classic City Clash, falling in three sets (20-25, 17-25,17-25).

Once again, Fischer led the Bulldog attack, putting up 12 kills. Haugen tacked on eight in the nightcap followed by six from Krista Blakely.

Downing recorded 10 digs in the contest while Kaitlin Fournier led the Dogs with three blocks.

With the Bulldogs down 10-7 in the first set, they regrouped to go on a 4-0 run to go ahead 11-10 and prompt an FSU timeout. FSU took four of the next five to go back in front 14-12. The Bulldogs knotted the set at 15-all, but FSU responded with three-straight and went on to take the opening set 25-20. Six of Fischer's 12 kills came in the first set.

A 9-2 run from the Seminoles in the second gave FSU an early 11-4 lead. With FSU holding set point, Georgia slowed the advancing Seminoles, but it wasn't enough in the end, falling 25-17.

Georgia went ahead 5-2 in the third then FSU worked to tie the set at 8. A 6-0 run put FSU in front 14-9. The Dogs cut it to 16-13, but an FSU 6-1 run put the set out of reach, 22-14. Florida State ended the match with a 25-17 set three win.

Georgia is back in action next weekend at the Coastal Carolina Tournament. The Bulldogs take on North Florida at 10 a.m. then TCU at 5 p.m. Friday to begin action in Conway.

Head Coach Tom Black
On the team's performance vs Western Carolina...
"I thought the team did great. We had multiple people playing out of position and doing more than they normally do, and I thought they responded really well. They really stepped up to the challenge, and I was really proud of their response."

On the positives from the match vs Florida State...
"I thought the team fought really hard. It was a pretty high-level offensive match on both sides. Both teams hit at a really high clip. It completely came down to serving and passing. They had the advantage there, and we weren't able to put the same pressure on them that they put on us."