Georgia Sweeps Way to Tournament Crown in Irvine

Saturday, September 1

Irvine, Calif.

6 p.m.

University of Georgia

6-0

CSU Bakersfield

2-4

CSU Bakersfield

Georgia

Photo by: Steffenie Burns

September 01, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score CSU Bakersfield Box Score

IRVINE, Calif. – Georgia volleyball (6-0) recorded its third sweep of the UCI/Adidas Invitational with a straight-sets victory over Cal State Bakersfield (2-4) Saturday evening (25-18, 25-18, 25-23).

Junior setter Meghan Donovan was named the tournament MVP while Rachel Ritchie and Kendall Glover earned all-tournament honors. Donovan dished out 11.3 assists on the weekend, running a Georgia offense that hit .243. Glover averaged 5.56 digs per set while Ritchie had 3.67 kills per set and hit .288 in her home state.

"We took a step forward this weekend which was good to see, especially on the road," said head coach Tom Black. "There's lots of areas still to grow and we're excited to get back to work this week."

For the third time on the weekend, T'ara Ceasar led the Bulldogs in kills and hit .379. Ritchie registered 11 kills with a .296 hitting percentage. Glover paced the defense with 21 digs.

Senior Anna Kate Karstens set a new career high with five service aces in the match. Her previous career high was one.

Down 8-5 in the opening set, Georgia rattled off a 13-1 run to capture am 18-9 lead on the Roadrunners. Georgia rolled to a 25-18 opening-set victory. Ritchie paced the offense in the frame with five kills.

Georgia used another strong run in the second set to come from behind and take a 2-0 lead in the set. Down two, 16-14, Georgia won nine of the next 10 points to jump out to a 23-17 lead. Ceasar had five kills in the run alone. The Bulldogs won the set 25-15. Ceasar finished with seven kills in the stanza with an .875 hitting clip.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick lead in the final set, 4-1. Georgia led much of the set until CSUB used seven unanswered points to tie the set at 22 all. The Bulldogs were able to fend off the charging Roadrunners, using kills from Ceasar, Mallory Hernandez, and Ritchie to secure the third sweep of the weekend.

Georgia travels to No. 21 Colorado next weekend for the Buffs Invitational. Georgia will take on the Buffaloes Friday at 8 p.m. to open play.