When Georgia’s volleyball team arrives in Columbia, S.C., for a
Sunday 2 p.m. match, it will face one of the biggest challenges of
the young season — No. 19 South Carolina.

Last season, the Lady Bulldogs stunned the Lady Gamecocks in
five sets in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference
tournament, upsetting a squad that easily beat them two times
during the regular season.

“Beating South Carolina was a huge game,” said senior outside
hitter Stacy Buerger. “We had lost to them two times in the regular
season, and then we played them in the tournament and beat
them in five games. So, that was a huge success.”

This weekend Georgia hopes to prove that the upset wasn’t an
accident.

“We need to come out and give 100 percent,” said junior outside
hitter Jennifer Foytich. “We’re really going to have to block against
them because they are big hitters. We just need to motivate
ourselves and get up for the game. We want to show them it
wasn’t just a fluke when we beat them last year.”

For Georgia to beat the Lady Gamecocks, it must enjoy a blocking
performance comparable to that in Wednesday night’s

victory against Georgia Southern. Georgia outblocked the Lady

Eagles 11-3.

Senior middle blocker Kristine Keese, who had a breakout
performance against South Carolina last season with 19 kills,
needs to provide consistent blocks.

“I think the Georgia Southern game has prepared us to get back
into the game momentum,” Keese said. “South Carolina is at a
different level, so we’re going to have to work twice as hard.”

Kim Christopher’s Lady Gamecocks lead Georgia in digs per
game (15.21-13.82), yet the Lady Bulldogs average 15.59 kills per
game, one more than South Carolina.

High-flying Buerger, who led Georgia with 12 kills against Georgia
Southern, should contribute significantly to the squad’s offense in
the match-up.

“There is going to be some serious rivalry going on this weekend
– but that’s going to make it fun,” Keese said. “Both teams have
the same players (as last year), so we’re going to have the same
emotions. It’s really going to be intense, and we are very
excited.”

However, with the exception of Michigan, the Lady Bulldogs haven’t
faced a team of South Carolina’s caliber all

season.

Georgia’s match-up against No. 15 Pepperdine at a tournament in
Chapel Hill, N.C., was canceled because of last Tuesday’s
terrorist attacks.

“(South Carolina) is a top-20 program, so it’s going to be a whole
new ball game for us,” said coach Mary Buczek. “Missing out on
that North Carolina tournament hurt us in that regard, because we
would have seen that level of competition there.”

Unlike last year’s squad, these Lady Bulldogs have proved they
can win on the road, with a record of 2-1 going into this
weekend.

“We beat them last year so we should feel confident,” Buczek said.
“But playing at South Carolina is tough — that’s a hostile
environment.”