Georgia Defeats NC State in Home Opener, 3-1

Thursday, September 19

Athens, Ga.

7 p.m.

University of Georgia

7-3

North Carolina State

4-6

NC State

Georgia

Photo by: Tony Walsh

September 19, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia women's volleyball team opened its home schedule Thursday evening with a four-set victory over NC State at Stegeman Coliseum (25-14, 20-25, 25-15, 25-20).

Freshman Kacie Evans led the offensive attack for the Bulldogs (7-3) with a season-high 16 kills and hitting .467. Junior Rachel Ritchie followed with 13 kills (.308) followed closely by sophomore Kayla Rivera with 11.

Defensively, junior libero Kendall Glover put up 17 digs to lead the team. Glover also led the team with three service aces, a season high. Georgia tied a season-best 11 blocks with sophomore Sage Naves and Rivera recording four each. Seven different Bulldogs put up at least one block Thursday. Georgia held the Wolfpack (4-6) to a .096 hitting percentage in the match.

The opening stanza was all Bulldogs as Georgia rolled to a 25-14 win to grab the 1-0 lead in the match. Ritchie recorded five kills in the set.

NC State opened the second set with an 8-1 lead, prompting a timeout from the Georgia bench. Down 10-4, Georgia used a 10-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. Following a timeout from the Wolfpack, Georgia extended the lead to 17-12, prompting NC State's second timeout. The Wolfpack halted the Georgia offense, going on a 9-1 run after the break, retaking a 21-18 lead. NC State won the set 25-20 to tie up the match.

Like set one, set three was all Bulldogs. Georgia took an early 9-3 lead. An ace by Glover prompted a timeout from the Wolfpack. The Bulldogs kept the momentum to a 25-15 win in the frame, capped by back-to-back Meghan Donovan and Rivera blocks.

While much of the fourth set had the Bulldogs in front, Georgia never gained much of an advantage on the Wolfpack much of the set. Only up one, 15-14, Georgia was able to open a 19-15 lead. After a Wolfpack timeout, Georgia won four of the next five rallies, 23-16. With Georgia holding on to match point, 24-18, NC State put up a couple blocks to stay in the match, 24-20. An attack error from the Wolfpack secured the match for the Bulldogs, 25-20.

Georgia volleyball is back in action Friday evening taking on rival Georgia Tech. First serve from Stegeman Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. The first 1,000 fans will receive a red "Wreck Tech" t-shirt while the first 250 UGA students will receive Chick-fil-A and chances to win prizes throughout the match.

Head Coach Tom Black
Opening statement…
"I thought a lot of people had strong performances at different moments. Kacie Evans with her offense and her blocking really carried us through. Rachel Ritchie when she came back in the match got some good touches. Meghan Donovan was running our offense. I thought our second half of the match was way better."

On what he talked to the team about after second set…
"We just talked about the things that we needed to do and getting our composure back. When you get on your heels like that, the match can get hard. We were kind of scratching and clawing for the rest of the match, but I thought we made the plays that we needed to make."

On Friday's matchup with Georgia Tech…
"It's really important. That was a tough match last year, and we weren't too happy about it. It's our rivalry, so hopefully we see a big crowd here and we give them a good match to watch."

Rachel Ritchie, Junior, OH
On starting off hot…
"It's super important for us to gain confidence early on. It's something we talked about in the locker room before the game, we knew we needed to start of strong. I think we definitely did start off strong in the first set but just lost it a little in the second. They fixed a lot of their errors that we were capitalizing on so we really just had to readjust."

On coming back strong…
"The coaching staff just kept reassuring us that we know how to play, we know what to do. It starts with us overthinking and we just need a little reassurance. We know what we're supposed to do we just have to do it."

Kacie Evans, Freshman, OH
On her success tonight…
"I think it definitely had to do with everyone being scrappy and Meghan's (Donovan) sets were doing really well. When I did get blocked or had an error, her and I would just connect and readjust. But other than that, I think we all did really well."

On the second set…
"Our energy was definitely a little bit down and you could tell a little in the middle of the first set even though the score didn't show it. But that definitely carried on to the second set and we made just simple mistakes."