Georgia Defeats MSU, Earns Second Sweep of Weekend

Sunday, November 17

Starkville, Miss.

2 p.m.

University of Georgia

18-7,10-4SEC

Mississippi State

13-14,2-13SEC

Georgia

Mississippi St.

Photo by: Tony Walsh

November 17, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of Georgia women's volleyball team defeated Mississippi State in straight sets (25-16, 25-21, 25-21) Sunday at Newell-Grissom Building, earning its second sweep of the weekend in Mississippi.

Freshman Kacie Evans led the charge for Georgia offensively, recording 19 kills, tying for second most in a three-set match in Georgia rally scoring history.

Senior setter Meghan Donovan earned her 12^th double-double of the season, recording 41 assists with 15 digs (a team best).

Defensively, sophomore Claire Rothenberger put up 12 digs while also recording a pair of service aces. Fellow sophomore Sage Naves recorded five blocks in the contest.

Georgia (19-7, 11-4) came out of the strong in the opening set, leading Mississippi State 7-2 early. MSU pulled within three, 10-7, but the Bulldogs won the next three rallies to find a lead of six, 13-7. Georgia continued a strong offensive attack in the opening set en route to a 25-16 set one win. As a team, Georgia hit .375 in the opening stanza. Evans tallied five kills in the opening set while Georgia had four blocks, led by three from Naves.

With Georgia ahead by three in the second set, 13-10, Mississippi State (13-14, 2-13) won five-straight points to take a 15-13 lead on Georgia. Down one, 19-18, Georgia won three-straight using a couple MSU attack errors to take a two-point lead and force a timeout from the opposing bench, 21-19. Georgia extended its run after the break to 5-0 and a 23-19 lead and ultimately winning the set 25-21, widening its lead in the match to 2-0. Evans had nine kills in the second set alone.

After Georgia won the first point of the third set, Mississippi State won the next four to take an early 4-1 lead. MSU continued its hold on Georgia in set three, opening a six-point lead and forcing Georgia's second timeout, 12-6. Georgia halted MSU's momentum, winning three-straight points out of the timeout, cutting the deficit to two and prompting a timeout from the other Bulldogs. Down 14-11, four-straight points for Georgia gave the Bulldogs a 15-14 advantage and Mississippi State used its final timeout. Tied at 17, Georgia won three-straight to find a late lead. Another Georgia three-point run drew set point and Evans' 19^th kill sealed the sweep, 25-21.

Up next, Georgia will bring the home schedule to a close with a pair of matches at Stegeman Coliseum next weekend. The Bulldogs host South Carolina Friday evening then #11 Florida on Sunday.

Head coach Tom Black
On the match…
"I think it's difficult to get a sweep on the road so to get to this weekend is a nice job by the team. Our offense was a little streaky until the end then our numbers came way up so I think our defense and hitting really responded in set three. We missed a few too many serves but the serves that were in were really tough so we got out of trouble there. Then our serve-receive was really starting to get better. This is one of our best weekends passing the ball."

On looking ahead to a tough weekend at home…
"We just have to keep building our themes. Kayla Rivera has really come on offensively, that's' been great for us so we just have to keep building on that. We can keep building our middle attacks to take advantage of one-on-ones. But I'm really excited about our serving and passing, that's a trend that if it keeps coming up, we're a tough team."