University of Georgia
Arkansas
Georgia Volleyball Drops SEC Opener To Arkansas, 3-2
September 17, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2010
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Georgia volleyball team dropped its 2010 Southeastern Conference opener to Arkansas, 3-2, at Barnhill Arena on Friday night.
Arkansas (7-5, 1-0 SEC) took the first set 25-12, but Georgia (8-4, 0-1 SEC) evened the match at 1-1 by taking the second set 26-24. The Bulldogs then carried the momentum into the third set, winning it 25-21 to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. However, the Razorbacks regained its first-set tempo in the fourth frame by taking it 25-13 to send the match to a decisive fifth set. In the final frame, the Razorbacks opened on a 7-1 run en route to earning the victory with a 15-10 set win.
"Tonight was a strange one for us for sure," Georgia head coach Joel McCartney said. "We played good ball when we passed well, but things went south on our left sides when we didn't pass in systems. On the other side of the net, I thought Arkansas did a great job of managing a consistent level of play whether they were ahead or behind."
Friday night's contest was the third-consecutive five-set match for Georgia. The Bulldogs went the distance against Georgia Tech this past Saturday in Athens but were edged by the Yellow Jackets, and this past Tuesday, UGA outlasted Georgia State in Atlanta. It marks the first time in the rally-scoring era that the Bulldogs have played three-straight five set contests, and the last time the UGA program was involved in three five-set matches in a row was 1994.
On Friday, the Razorbacks were led to the victory by Jasmine Norton, who recorded a match-best 24 kills on a .327 hitting percentage. Norton's lead was supported Kendall Cleveland's double-double with 18 kills on a .357 clip to go along with 12 digs. Defensively, Arkansas was paced by Janeliss Torres' match-best eight blocks and Brooke Fournier's match-best 23 digs.
Georgia's performance was guided by junior setter Kathleen Gates, who provided the Bulldogs with 44 assists and 11 digs for her third double-double of the year. Redshirt sophomore opposite hitter Briana Bahr and junior middle hitter Ann Dylla posted the top kill totals for the Bulldogs with 14 and 11, respectively. Junior libero Carla Tietz added a team-best 14 digs.
Up next, Georgia continues its road swing by traveling to Baton Rouge, La., to face 19th-ranked LSU (10-0) on Sunday. First serve between the Bulldogs and Tigers from the Maravich Center is slated for 2:30 p.m. ET, and live stats will be available through www.lsusports.net.
"Some of the girls were just not themselves tonight, but we will get back after it on Sunday as we need to get immediately focused on LSU," McCartney noted.
