University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA
Bulldogs Deliver Late To Down Gamecocks
September 24, 2026 | Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
When the Georgia and South Carolina volleyball teams take the court against one another, as they did Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, it's best to get a Coke and some popcorn and settle in for a long match.
In Wednesday's SEC opener, the Bulldogs won the first set, the Gamecocks took the next two, Georgia took the fourth set to send it to a deciding fifth, and then the Bulldogs won the finale for a 3-2 victory. It was the eighth time in the last 14 meetings that the teams have gone to five sets. It was also Georgia's fourth straight win in the series.
"Winning the fourth set and going into the fifth, it really helps having that momentum," said senior Bianna Muoneke, who had a match-high 27 kills. "Obviously, we don't want to go five. We're going to push to be better, so this doesn't happen, especially against teams we prepared for really well."
The Bulldogs (9-2, 1-0 SEC) got off to a slow start in the opening set, dropping the first three points, but they got going eventually. An Alyssa Worden kill tied the set 4-4, and a Gigi Artiles ace put Georgia ahead 5-4. The Bulldogs didn't trail again, taking the set 25-20. The second and third sets were tight most of the way, with South Carolina eventually winning both, 25-19 and 25-21.
"The match was better towards the end," said Worden, who had four kills and six digs. "I think we were maybe a little bit nervous about (it being the SEC opener), but we also know ourselves and how we play volleyball, and we know what we expect out of ourselves, and we were under-delivering for a lot of the game."
It wasn't a great serving night for either team, with Georgia committing 16 serving errors and South Carolina 10. That's a lot of free points to give away in a tight match.
"It's definitely tough because we are such a great serving team and we work on it," Muoneke said. "I think we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves, but we just talked about not letting the moment get too big for us. I know we're all capable of it, and we all know we are, too."
Georgia played its best over the final two sets, with Muoneke leading the way. She had six kills and an ace in the fourth set, which Georgia won 25-17. In the deciding fifth, the set was tied 7-7 before Kendal Kemp's kill gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. That was followed by a Worden ace, another Kemp kill, and then a block assist by Kemp and Muoneke, pushing the Georgia lead to 11-7.
At 11-8, Muoneke had back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 13-8. A Tori Harper kill made it 14-9, giving Georgia multiple match points, and it was Muoneke who finished it off, getting her sixth kill of the set and 27th of the match, to end it at 15-10.
"I live for big moments," said Muoneke, a first-team All-SEC player last season and the SEC Player of the Week earlier this month. "My coach back in club, Coach Jeff (Ham), he used to always say that I love the lights. I get into the lights, and I'm just a different player. I used to always be like, no, that's not me, but it's really true.
"I just love being there for my teammates. I really do, especially in big moments when they can look to me and know that I'm going to do my job."
After the disappointing second and third sets, the Bulldogs did their jobs. They settled in, dialed in their serving a lot more, and played like the team they know they can be.
"I think we just took a mental shift, and we just got really hungry for the win," Worden said. "I think instead of approaching (the fifth set) in kind of a nervous fashion, we just get more hungry. I think that's just a good way to describe our competitive spirit.
"It's like, Okay, fifth set, we know we can't make a lot of errors. But instead of burrowing in our nervousness, we just rise to the challenge because we know that we're better than this."
They proved that down the stretch, pulling out another marathon match against the Gamecocks. After playing eight matches in 23 days, including beating Georgia Tech in a five-set thriller last Saturday, Georgia gets a bit of a breather before returning to the Steg on Oct. 2 against Arkansas.
Staff Writer
When the Georgia and South Carolina volleyball teams take the court against one another, as they did Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, it's best to get a Coke and some popcorn and settle in for a long match.
In Wednesday's SEC opener, the Bulldogs won the first set, the Gamecocks took the next two, Georgia took the fourth set to send it to a deciding fifth, and then the Bulldogs won the finale for a 3-2 victory. It was the eighth time in the last 14 meetings that the teams have gone to five sets. It was also Georgia's fourth straight win in the series.
"Winning the fourth set and going into the fifth, it really helps having that momentum," said senior Bianna Muoneke, who had a match-high 27 kills. "Obviously, we don't want to go five. We're going to push to be better, so this doesn't happen, especially against teams we prepared for really well."
The Bulldogs (9-2, 1-0 SEC) got off to a slow start in the opening set, dropping the first three points, but they got going eventually. An Alyssa Worden kill tied the set 4-4, and a Gigi Artiles ace put Georgia ahead 5-4. The Bulldogs didn't trail again, taking the set 25-20. The second and third sets were tight most of the way, with South Carolina eventually winning both, 25-19 and 25-21.
"The match was better towards the end," said Worden, who had four kills and six digs. "I think we were maybe a little bit nervous about (it being the SEC opener), but we also know ourselves and how we play volleyball, and we know what we expect out of ourselves, and we were under-delivering for a lot of the game."
It wasn't a great serving night for either team, with Georgia committing 16 serving errors and South Carolina 10. That's a lot of free points to give away in a tight match.
"It's definitely tough because we are such a great serving team and we work on it," Muoneke said. "I think we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves, but we just talked about not letting the moment get too big for us. I know we're all capable of it, and we all know we are, too."
Georgia played its best over the final two sets, with Muoneke leading the way. She had six kills and an ace in the fourth set, which Georgia won 25-17. In the deciding fifth, the set was tied 7-7 before Kendal Kemp's kill gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. That was followed by a Worden ace, another Kemp kill, and then a block assist by Kemp and Muoneke, pushing the Georgia lead to 11-7.
At 11-8, Muoneke had back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 13-8. A Tori Harper kill made it 14-9, giving Georgia multiple match points, and it was Muoneke who finished it off, getting her sixth kill of the set and 27th of the match, to end it at 15-10.
"I live for big moments," said Muoneke, a first-team All-SEC player last season and the SEC Player of the Week earlier this month. "My coach back in club, Coach Jeff (Ham), he used to always say that I love the lights. I get into the lights, and I'm just a different player. I used to always be like, no, that's not me, but it's really true.
"I just love being there for my teammates. I really do, especially in big moments when they can look to me and know that I'm going to do my job."
After the disappointing second and third sets, the Bulldogs did their jobs. They settled in, dialed in their serving a lot more, and played like the team they know they can be.
"I think we just took a mental shift, and we just got really hungry for the win," Worden said. "I think instead of approaching (the fifth set) in kind of a nervous fashion, we just get more hungry. I think that's just a good way to describe our competitive spirit.
"It's like, Okay, fifth set, we know we can't make a lot of errors. But instead of burrowing in our nervousness, we just rise to the challenge because we know that we're better than this."
They proved that down the stretch, pulling out another marathon match against the Gamecocks. After playing eight matches in 23 days, including beating Georgia Tech in a five-set thriller last Saturday, Georgia gets a bit of a breather before returning to the Steg on Oct. 2 against Arkansas.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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