Bulldogs Defeat Georgia Tech in Front of Record Crowd, 3-1

Friday, September 20

Athens, Ga.

7 p.m.

University of Georgia

8-3

Georgia Tech

4-4

Georgia Tech

Georgia

Photo by: Tony Walsh

Bulldogs Defeat Georgia Tech in Front of Record Crowd, 3-1

September 20, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

ATHENS, Ga. – In front of a crowd of 3,480 at Stegeman Coliseum, the University of Georgia women's volleyball team defeated Georgia Tech Friday evening in four sets (25-15, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18).

Friday evening's match saw the previous home attendance record of 3,222 fall. The previous record was set on Oct. 16, 2012 when Georgia hosted Georgia Tech in Stegeman Coliseum. Tech won that match in four sets.

Georgia concluded non-conference play with an 8-3 record.

Freshman Kacie Evans matched her season-high 16 kills from Thursday evening. Evans also tallied a season-best four aces. She was followed closely in the category by junior Rachel Ritchie with 14 of her own. Junior Kianna Young and sophomore Kayla Rivera each contributed nine kills each.

Senior setter Meghan Donovan dished out 50 assists, running an offense that hit .328 against the Yellow Jackets (7-4). Junior Kendall Glover put up 19 digs while sophomore Sage Naves had four blocks.

The Bulldogs opened the match with a 6-0 run, prompting an early timeout from the Georgia Tech bench. Georgia continued to build on the early lead, widening the advantage to 8-1. Georgia used the early momentum to take the first set, 25-15. Ritchie recorded five kills in the opening set and hit .444.

Georgia began the second set with a 6-3 lead; however, Georgia Tech responded by winning six of the next eight rallies to go ahead 9-8. A block on the right side by Evans and Naves sparked a 4-0 run for Georgia, prompting a Yellow Jacket timeout, 12-9. Tech tied it at 17 and Georgia called a timeout. All knotted up at 22, Georgia rattled off three-straight to take the set 25-22 and a 2-0 lead in the contest. Ritchie added four more kills in the frame.

Ahead 10-8 on the Bulldogs, Georgia Tech opened an 11-point lead with a 9-0 run in the third set. With the Yellow Jackets holding on to set point, 24-13, Georgia wasn't done fighting just yet, going on a 4-0 run; however, the mid-set run was too much as Tech won the frame, 25-17. Ritchie and Evans each topped the double-digit kill mark in the third set.

Georgia jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the fourth in which it continued to build on leading as much as eight in the set. The Bulldogs concluded the match with a 25-18 set four victory to seal the win in the match.

Next up, Georgia begins Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs travel to South Carolina for a Friday evening matchup then trek to Gainesville, Florida for a showdown with #11 Florida Gators.

Georgia Head Volleyball Coach Tom Black
On Friday's match...
"I just wanted to make sure we were having fun and being really aggressive; not playing worried or nervous or anything like that. I thought we did a pretty good job of doing that."

On the future...
"We had a really challenging preseason. I think the team did really well through it. We know conference is going to get even tougher, but we can play volleyball. Now it's just about continuing to get better, continuing to practice better, and there's a lot more challenges down the road."

Senior setter Meghan Donovan
On the crowd…
"I think that the crowd was a huge factor. This was probably the biggest crowd we've had since we've been in Stegeman. We thrive off of the energy, especially with a big in state rival like Georgia Tech."

On what the team did well…
"I think that our serving and passing game was really consistent and then our offense and blocking got down in the first set. But when we are on with our hitting and blocking that's when we win. I think we just have to keep our consistency up and I think our hitters are doing a really good job."

Junior libero Kendall Glover
On what the team did well…
"We were super aggressive from the start and we wanted to make sure we were making plays instead of errors. I thought our hitters did a really good job of just being scrappy with their shots. Our aggressiveness on the court was really great."

On what she is proud of…
"I just wanted to make sure that I played hard for my teammates. I always know that they have my back, so I always want to have theirs so what I am most proud about is that we played as a team and we won together."