Georgia finished their first Alumni Weekend with a thrilling match that would have been fit for any generation of Bulldogs. Despite playing some inspired volleyball, Georgia fell 3-2 to the LSU Tigers in an electric Ramsey Center.

Kathleen Lufts and the Georgia volleyball team lost 3-2 in a close match to LSU. FILE PHOTO.

After going to a deciding fifth set, the two teams needed more than the regulation 15 points to be separated. The incredible final set saw a heart breaking conclusion for the home team after being on the brink of victory for large periods. Georgia opened up a four point lead at 13-9 but were unable to pull out the win as LSU chipped away to finish off the battling Bulldogs 18-16.

“I am so proud we fought so hard,” said redshirt junior right sided hitter Briana Bahr. “It’s point for point and I’m glad we were able to come back and give the best we had.”

Georgia started much as they had in their previous match relying on steady offense and impressive defense to win the first set 25-20.  After building an early lead LSU came back at the Bulldogs pulling the score back to 19-17 before Georgia was able to close the set out.  Georgia posted impressive early numbers with a 60 percent side out rate and .345 hitting percentage. They also recorded a solid 3 team blocks with senior middle block Elizabeth Reid recording two block assists. Offensively the Bulldogs were paced by Bahr who recorded six kill and redshirt sophomore Kathleen Luft who recorded four. No other Bulldog had more than one.

The early momentum Georgia had built was taken away from them by a powerful second set display by the visiting Tigers. The Bulldogs fell to an early 1-6 deficit and were never able to close the gap as LSU dominated at the net with a .400 hitting percentage while lowering Georgia’s to .069.  Leading the Bulldogs again were Luft and Bahr, Luft recorded three kills in the set while Bahr had two.

LSU again used their powerful front line to dominant the battling Georgia team. The Tigers blocked Georgia’s struggling offense nine times as the Bulldogs failed to find a way around the purple wall that met them at the net.  Having fallen to a 1-10 deficit early in the set, Georgia fought back and forced LSU to call a time out with the score at 14-18. However the comeback wasn’t to be as the visitors only allowed Georgia two more points in the set to close it out at 16-25. Despite the offensive travails Luft and Bahr continued to impress as both moved into double digit kill with five and two more respectively. Head coach Lizzy Stemke saw other flaws in the Bulldogs mid match performance.

“What we need to work on that let us down in a couple of those games was our passing,” Stemke said. “LSU’s a really solid serving team and that’s what got us down there.”

During a period in the fourth set it seemed Georgia would not be able to wrestle the lead from LSU with the teams being tied seven times. The Bulldogs finally went ahead thanks to an attack from sophomore outside hitter Brittany Northcutt that deflected off an LSU hand and landed out of bounds. From this point Georgia pushed home their advantage opening up a four point led and hanging on to force a deciding fifth set.  Bahr finished the set with an emphatic kill which was her fourth of the set and moved her match total to 14. Both Northcutt and Luft had four kills each in the set as well.

Despite the loss Georgia did see some positives to come out of the match.

“We were so close to beating LSU whose a really good team but we fought as hard as hard as we can,” Luft said. “We have a lot in us and if we keep just pushing how we’ve been pushing the past two matches then we could do a lot.”

Despite being clearly disappointed by the loss Stemke also was able to look on the best aspects of the match.

“The positive from this match is that we did come back, we did fight,” Stemke said. “At the end of the game it’s a point here and there and it could go either way but we did a great job putting ourselves in a position for success.”

The presence of the alumni, who were honored at the half time break, was something the players took a lot from.

“To see the older girls who are grown and are coaches themselves it’s really nice to see them,” Bahr said. “To have them come back and see how this program has progressed-it’s really nice to get the whol volleyball family involved.”