Georgia Volleyball 2012 Season-In-Review

The University of Georgia volleyball team continued to grow under the leadership of Head Coach Lizzy Stemke in 2012. The Bulldogs finished the year with a 13-16 record that included eight wins over Southeastern Conference opponents.

Stemke coached Jasmine Eatmon to SEC All-Freshman honors, marking the first time since 2009 that a Bulldog volleyball player had been chosen to the All-Freshman team. It was also the first time since 2010 that Georgia was represented on an All-SEC team. Eatmon was also named the SEC Freshman of the Week twice, becoming the first player to garner SEC weekly honors twice in the same season since 2008. It was also the first time since Maria Taylor in 2005 that a Bulldog has earned Freshman of the Week honors twice in one season.

The season was highlighted by sweeps over Alabama and Mississippi State, the program’s first win at LSU 2001 and the first volleyball match played in Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia started off the season by winning six of its first eight matches, including its first five of the year. After falling to South Carolina, Georgia picked back-to-back SEC wins over Mississippi State and Alabama. In its first televised match of the year, Georgia used a dominating fifth-set to seal a 3-2 win over LSU in Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs had close matches against some of the top teams in the league, including Tennessee and Kentucky.

On Oct. 16, the Bulldogs saw a record number 3,222 fans come to watch them play Georgia Tech in the first volleyball match played in Stegeman Coliseum since the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Georgia was led offensively by Tirah Le’au, who finished with 309 kills for an average of 2.83 kills per set. Brittany Northcutt added 270 kills and averaged 2.81 kills per set to finish second on the team. Eatmon made her presence known in the Bulldog lineup, playing in each of Georgia’s 112 sets and finishing with 155 kills and an attack percentage of .253. Newcomer Kaylee Kehoe led the Georgia passing game with 692 assists, but shared time with Maggie Baumert, who finished with 529 assists.

Eatmon finished second on the team with 99 blocks, including 14 solo blocks. Elena Perri developed as a defensive threat, leading the team with 117 total blocks, including 13 solo stops. Allison Summers led the team with 539 digs, followed by Chloe Buckendahl with 254 digs.

Georgia improved from the service line, tallying 123 service aces, led by Buckendahl with 28.

The Bulldogs capped off the year with a 16-day trip to Europe. During the trip, the team competed in six matches in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Italy. It was the first trip of its kind for the Georgia volleyball program.