VOLLEYBALL: Georgia Hosts Arkansas on Wednesday at the Stegeman

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VOLLEYBALL: Georgia Hosts Arkansas on Wednesday at the Stegeman

The UGA women's volleyball team prepares for a match in the newly renovated Stegeman Coliseum. (Photo by Caitlyn Tam / Georgia Sports Communication)
The UGA women’s volleyball team prepares for a match in the newly renovated Stegeman Coliseum.
(Photo by Caitlyn Tam / Georgia Sports Communication)

 
 
The Georgia women’s volleyball team (14-8, 4-5 SEC) returns home to host Arkansas (15-6, 5-4 SEC) Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum.

 
Wednesday evening’s match will air on ESPNU with live stats available on GeorgiaDogs.com.
 
 
The first 500 fans at Wednesday’s game will receive a t-shirt while the first 100 UGA students will receive wings as part of Wing Wednesday. An autograph session with the Bulldogs will take place after the match.
 
 
Series History
 
The Bulldogs and Razorbacks have played a total of 32 times in their histories. Arkansas holds a firm lead on the all-time series, 9-23. Georgia will look to snap an eight-match losing streak to the Razorbacks, last beating them on Nov. 4, 2011. UGA swept the home-and-home series that season.
 
 
800 Wins… And Counting
 
With the 3-0 win over Missouri on Friday, Oct. 20, the Georgia Bulldogs recorded the 800th victory in program history. Georgia is in its 40th season with an all-time record of 800-487. Since its initiation in 1978, the program has collected two SEC championships and nine NCAA tournament appearances, the last in 2013.
 
 
Georgia Ranked in Top Half of SEC in Every Offensive Category
 
The Georgia offense has placed itself in the top six of every offensive category, including hitting percentage, assists, kills and service aces. The conference rankings feature Georgia at the top in service aces with a 1.54 average, highlighted by T’ara Ceasar and Sydney Gilliam, who have led the team in service aces in eight matches this season. Ceasar ranks fifth in the SEC in service aces individually.
 
 
Led by Majesti Bass with a .309 hitting percentage, the Bulldogs are fourth at .246. In kills, Georgia boasts a fifth-place position (13.49), fueled by outside hitters Ceasar and Rachel Ritchie at third and fourth in the individual rankings. Meghan Donovan headlines the Georgia assists, providing her own third-place spot with 10.81 per match, bringing Georgia to its fourth position as a team 12.72 assists per set. The setter’s mark also ranks 39th in the nation.
 
 
Ceasar Continues to Nab Weekly Honors
 
T’ara Ceasar was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time on Monday, Oct. 23. She is now the only UGA volleyball player to earn any weekly SEC award four times in a single season. On Sept. 25, Ceasar also marked the first Bulldog to be named Freshman of the Week three times in a single season since the weekly honors for freshman began in 2005. Two other Georgia players have earned the honor twice: Jasmine Eatmon in 2012 and Maria Taylor in 2005. The award was Georgia’s sixth weekly honor in five weeks, which is the most any Georgia volleyball team has acquired in one season. In 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008, the program had four weekly acknowledgments.
 
 
Ceasar registered a total of 15 kills with a .400 hitting percentage at Mizzou Friday. Her 15 kills guided the Georgia team to its second road sweep in a row. It’s the 14th time this season she has led the squad in kills and the 17th time she has eclipsed the double-digit kill mark. Her .400 hitting percentage matched a single-game high in SEC play this season. She added an ace and seven digs (co-led the team) in the victory over the Tigers.
 
 
Ceasar Highlights Georgia Season for Kills in Three-Set Match
 
In Georgia’s sweep over Mississippi State on Sunday, Ceasar led the Bulldogs with 18 kills in three sets, which is the most by a Georgia player in a three-set match this season. Ritchie had posted 17 in three-set matches against Oklahoma and Florida Gulf Coast University earlier in the year. Last week, Ceasar and Ritchie paired up for 19 kills apiece in five sets against Tennessee on Wednesday, marking the third time the Georgia duo has totaled 18 or more kills in a match. The last time any Bulldog pair did so was in 2012.
 
 
Donovan Guides the Offense
 
Sophomore Meghan Donovan continues to set up the Georiga offense, leading the team with 843 assists on the year, good for 10.81 per set. The setter also tops the team in double-doubles, combining for eight on the season. In Georgia’s five-set battle with Tennessee on Oct. 11, the native of St. Louis, Missouri matched her career-high with 56 assists, guiding the Bulldogs to a total of 62 kills with a .272 hitting percentage. She helped provide 19 kills apiece for freshmen Rachel Ritchie and T’ara Ceasar.
 
 
In non-conference play, Donovan recorded over 100 assists per week, which earned her SEC Setter of the Year after her performance at the Bobcat Invitational, finishing the tournament with 123 assists, 18 digs and three blocks. The sophomore has also posted top-five SEC performances against Florida Gulf Coast and Texas Tech for three-set and four-set matches.
 
 
Five-Set Familiarity
 
Georgia has played in four five-set matches this year, including three in the past five games. It took Wofford and Ole Miss five sets to take down Georgia, before the Bulldogs topped South Carolina, coming back from a first-set loss to use up all the possible frames. The Gamecock match was Georgia’s second-straight five-set match, in which Georgia held South Carolina to an .082 hitting percentage, which is the second-lowest performance of a conference opponent against Georgia this year.
 
 
The most recent five-set match christened the newly renovated Stegeman Coliseum against Tennessee Oct. 11. Donvoan, Ceasar and Ritchie led the attack, with Donovan and Ceasar posting double-doubles, but the Volunteers held on to the final two sets for a 3-2 victory.
 
 
CLICK HERE for the complete Georgia-Arkansas match notes.
 
 
 
 

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