University of Georgia Athletics
40 Years Ago, UGA Volleyball Made History
November 21, 2025 | Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Almost 40 years ago to the day, on Nov. 24, 1985, inside Ole Miss' C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum, the Georgia volleyball team made history. Winning three out of four sets against LSU in the finals, the top-seeded Bulldogs captured the program's first SEC tournament championship.
It was a breakthrough season for Georgia, which won the SEC regular-season title, another program first, and also earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament by winning the title.
"When I think about that season, I think about the team, the teammates that I love, and the fun we had," Sandra Trani, who was named the tournament MVP, said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Trani said her teammates were like "sisters," and the bonds they formed in the mid-1980s remain strong. In fact, she's in Atlanta this weekend for the wedding of one of teammate Diane Rohde's grandchildren.
"We were a bunch of kids with chips on our shoulders," Trani said. "Probably not the best volleyball players, but we were really strong athletes, and we just worked really hard."
Not only does this season mark the 40th anniversary of Georgia's first SEC tourney title, but the conference tournament is also back after a long break. Last held in 2005, the 2025 Allstate SEC Volleyball Tournament begins Friday at Enmarket Arena in Savannah. The No. 7 seed, Georgia will begin play Saturday against the winner of the first-round match between No. 10-seed Mississippi State and 15-seed Vanderbilt.
"It's kind of the first time for everybody," Georgia head coach Tom Black said of playing in the SEC tournament. "We'll see what the impact is, but I think it'll get more eyeballs on the conference. I hope it expands TV coverage, as well. I think for the past couple of years, the SEC is a place recruits want to play, so I think this will help that. I think it'll be a positive, for sure."
Back in 1984, the year before the Bulldogs won the SEC tournament, Georgia lost in the semifinals and won the consolation match to place third. Trani said the team came into the 1985 season believing it had a shot at doing some special things.
"I can remember during the preseason, maybe after the first two weeks or so, walking out of the gym with my teammates, maybe going to dinner or going back to the dorms — we all lived in O-House (Oglethorpe House) — and looking at each other, not really wanting to say it, but we could really do well this year," Trani said. "We felt it early in the preseason, but we were a little afraid to jinx ourselves by talking about it."
Georgia won the SEC regular-season title that season, going 5-1 in league play, and entered the tournament as the top seed. After a bye to the semifinals — there were only seven schools with volleyball teams at that point — the Bulldogs swept Kentucky, 3-0, to reach the final, where they faced LSU.
The Bulldogs took control of the match early, winning the first two sets. The Tigers raised their game in the third and kept the match going by winning 15-8 (sets were to 15 then), setting up a dramatic fourth set. In what proved to be the final frame, the Bulldogs and Tigers were tied 14-14 when Georgia won the next two points to claim the championship.
It was a strange tournament for Trani, who had a bad case of the flu and didn't really leave her hotel room except to play in the matches. She had seven blocks and four kills in the final and was a key part of a Georgia defensive effort to contain LSU standout Detra Brown, one of the top players in the conference.
"Being able to shut her down in that final game, that's how we ended up winning," Trani said. "Being a middle hitter, I was involved in a tremendous amount of those blocks. I think that's what brought me that MVP — that and the fact that I played with the flu."
Shelly Gross, an All-SEC player that season, had 15 kills and a pair of aces in the final, while Rohde had 14 kills. Jenny McDowell, who was also All-SEC, finished with 41 assists, and Laurie Henderson had nine kills and 14 digs. Along with Trani's MVP, McDowell, Henderson and Rohde made the all-tournament team. Georgia's coach, Sid Feldman, was named the SEC Coach of the Year.
"Winning the SEC is awesome," Gross told The Red & Black back in 1985. "It is long overdue for us because we have been the underdog too long and now we're on top."
The 1985 Georgia team, which featured three players from Canada, two from Florida, and one each from New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Colorado, was an interesting mix of personalities and backgrounds, said Trani, who was from Clark, N.J. And it was Feldman, from Brooklyn, who built them into a championship team.
"He took a bunch of kids who were great athletes, and he taught us how to play. He taught us a lot about life, too," Trani said. "We were just a gritty bunch of people, including the coach."
Once Georgia got the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs beat Florida State in Athens in the first round and fell to the No. 3 seed, UCLA, in the second round, in Austin, Texas.
The Bulldogs shared the SEC regular-season title in 1986 and fell to LSU in the tourney final. Georgia also reached the tournament finals in 1990, 1993 and '94. The 1985 tournament title remains the only one in program history, but Trani is not the Bulldogs' only tourney MVP. In 1994, Priscilla Pacheco earned the award despite Georgia losing to Florida in the final.
Staff Writer
Almost 40 years ago to the day, on Nov. 24, 1985, inside Ole Miss' C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum, the Georgia volleyball team made history. Winning three out of four sets against LSU in the finals, the top-seeded Bulldogs captured the program's first SEC tournament championship.
It was a breakthrough season for Georgia, which won the SEC regular-season title, another program first, and also earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament by winning the title.
"When I think about that season, I think about the team, the teammates that I love, and the fun we had," Sandra Trani, who was named the tournament MVP, said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Trani said her teammates were like "sisters," and the bonds they formed in the mid-1980s remain strong. In fact, she's in Atlanta this weekend for the wedding of one of teammate Diane Rohde's grandchildren.
"We were a bunch of kids with chips on our shoulders," Trani said. "Probably not the best volleyball players, but we were really strong athletes, and we just worked really hard."
Not only does this season mark the 40th anniversary of Georgia's first SEC tourney title, but the conference tournament is also back after a long break. Last held in 2005, the 2025 Allstate SEC Volleyball Tournament begins Friday at Enmarket Arena in Savannah. The No. 7 seed, Georgia will begin play Saturday against the winner of the first-round match between No. 10-seed Mississippi State and 15-seed Vanderbilt.
"It's kind of the first time for everybody," Georgia head coach Tom Black said of playing in the SEC tournament. "We'll see what the impact is, but I think it'll get more eyeballs on the conference. I hope it expands TV coverage, as well. I think for the past couple of years, the SEC is a place recruits want to play, so I think this will help that. I think it'll be a positive, for sure."
Back in 1984, the year before the Bulldogs won the SEC tournament, Georgia lost in the semifinals and won the consolation match to place third. Trani said the team came into the 1985 season believing it had a shot at doing some special things.
"I can remember during the preseason, maybe after the first two weeks or so, walking out of the gym with my teammates, maybe going to dinner or going back to the dorms — we all lived in O-House (Oglethorpe House) — and looking at each other, not really wanting to say it, but we could really do well this year," Trani said. "We felt it early in the preseason, but we were a little afraid to jinx ourselves by talking about it."
Georgia won the SEC regular-season title that season, going 5-1 in league play, and entered the tournament as the top seed. After a bye to the semifinals — there were only seven schools with volleyball teams at that point — the Bulldogs swept Kentucky, 3-0, to reach the final, where they faced LSU.
The Bulldogs took control of the match early, winning the first two sets. The Tigers raised their game in the third and kept the match going by winning 15-8 (sets were to 15 then), setting up a dramatic fourth set. In what proved to be the final frame, the Bulldogs and Tigers were tied 14-14 when Georgia won the next two points to claim the championship.
It was a strange tournament for Trani, who had a bad case of the flu and didn't really leave her hotel room except to play in the matches. She had seven blocks and four kills in the final and was a key part of a Georgia defensive effort to contain LSU standout Detra Brown, one of the top players in the conference.
"Being able to shut her down in that final game, that's how we ended up winning," Trani said. "Being a middle hitter, I was involved in a tremendous amount of those blocks. I think that's what brought me that MVP — that and the fact that I played with the flu."
Shelly Gross, an All-SEC player that season, had 15 kills and a pair of aces in the final, while Rohde had 14 kills. Jenny McDowell, who was also All-SEC, finished with 41 assists, and Laurie Henderson had nine kills and 14 digs. Along with Trani's MVP, McDowell, Henderson and Rohde made the all-tournament team. Georgia's coach, Sid Feldman, was named the SEC Coach of the Year.
"Winning the SEC is awesome," Gross told The Red & Black back in 1985. "It is long overdue for us because we have been the underdog too long and now we're on top."
The 1985 Georgia team, which featured three players from Canada, two from Florida, and one each from New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Colorado, was an interesting mix of personalities and backgrounds, said Trani, who was from Clark, N.J. And it was Feldman, from Brooklyn, who built them into a championship team.
"He took a bunch of kids who were great athletes, and he taught us how to play. He taught us a lot about life, too," Trani said. "We were just a gritty bunch of people, including the coach."
Once Georgia got the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs beat Florida State in Athens in the first round and fell to the No. 3 seed, UCLA, in the second round, in Austin, Texas.
The Bulldogs shared the SEC regular-season title in 1986 and fell to LSU in the tourney final. Georgia also reached the tournament finals in 1990, 1993 and '94. The 1985 tournament title remains the only one in program history, but Trani is not the Bulldogs' only tourney MVP. In 1994, Priscilla Pacheco earned the award despite Georgia losing to Florida in the final.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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