University of Georgia
#24 Kentucky
No. 24 Kentucky Rallies To Edge Georgia, 3-2
September 26, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. - The 24th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats posted a 3-2, comeback victory over the Georgia Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at the Ramsey Student Center.
 Kathleen Gates moved to sixth in career assists at Georgia with 2,734.  | |
Kentucky (8-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed 0-2 in the match after Georgia (9-6, 1-3 SEC) won the first two sets 25-21 and 25-20. In the third frame, Kentucky battled for an extra-points set win at 28-26 and then went on to take the fourth set 25-19 to send the match to the fifth set. In the deciding set, Kentucky held off Georgia for a 15-13 win the set to take the match.
"I am no less proud of the way we played today than I was on Friday night," Georgia head coach Joel McCartney said of his Bulldogs, who defeated 20th-ranked Tennessee in five-sets on Friday. "It was an emotional weekend for us, and I thought the girls worked as well together as I have seen this season and maybe even since I started leading this program. If we continue to compete with this kind of energy, our program will continue to grow in the same direction we have been headed for the past three seasons."
Both teams finished the match with four players in double-digit kill totals as Kentucky tallied 64 kills on a .308 hitting percentage compared to Georgia's 72 kills on a .268 clip. In addition to leading the match in kills, Georgia led in aces at 7-1 but also had 17 service errors to Kentucky's eight. The Wildcats also found an edge in the match in blocking at 12.0 to 7.5.
"The one criticism I have for today's match is missing too many serves," McCartney said. "It takes our momentum away when we let the opponent off the hook with that many lost opportunities. I like being aggressive with serving, but today was way out of line."
Leading the Wildcats' offensive output was Blaire Hiler with 18 kills, and her effort was supported by 14 kills on a .542 clip from Lauren Rapp and 10 kills from both Whitney Billings and Ann Armes. The Wildcats' blocking effort was paced by Hiler as well with seven stops. Stephanie Klefot aided the UK showing with a match-best 21 digs.
Georgia had a pair of players finish with a team-best 17 kills in senior middle hitter Valentina Gonzalez and redshirt freshman outside hitter Kathleen Luft. Redshirt sophomore Briana Bahr contributed another 13 kills for the Bulldogs while freshman Brittany Northcutt added another 10. Junior setter Kathleen Gates controlled Georgia's offense 55 assists, and she also notched her team-leading fifth double-double by adding 11 digs. Gates' defensive effort was supported by a team-best 15 digs from junior libero Carla Tietz and 11 digs from sophomore Nicole Choi.
"Luft is building a great level of confidence in her game, and although we have known about her talent all along, she is now getting her opportunity and taking full advantage of it," McCartney noted. "Gonzalez played well enough to be considered one of the stand-out performers in our conference this weekend, and I am sure if we could have won this one she quite possibly would be the SEC Player of the Week."
Also of note for Georgia on Sunday, Gates' 55 assists matched a season-high and moved her career total to 2,734, which moves her up one spot in the all-time record books at UGA to sixth.
Sunday's match marked the fifth time in the last six matches the Bulldogs have played a five-set contest.
"These five-set matches take a lot out of you both physically and emotionally, so we will use the remainder of today and tomorrow to recuperate and then get back after it on Tuesday," McCartney said. "Our competition next weekend should be just as exciting as what we saw Friday and today, so we are planning to continue building the enthusiasm of Georgia volleyball here in Athens."
Georgia continues its four-match home stand with two more SEC matches next weekend. On Friday, Oct. 1, UGA welcomes Alabama at 7 p.m. ET, and on Sunday, Oct. 3, Georgia plays Mississippi State at 1 p.m. The UGA-MSU contest will air live on FSN, and it will be the first of five televised contests for Georgia this season.
