Georgia hoops to face UAB in exhibition
The Georgia Bulldogs will travel to Birmingham on Thursday, Oct. 18, to face UAB in a preseason exhibition to benefit parties assisting the Red Cross and its disaster relief. The game will be played at UAB’s Bartow Arena and tip at 8:00 p.m. ET.
“We’re extremely excited for the opportunity to play UAB and help raise funds for the Red Cross and the tremendous work they perform,” head coach Tom Crean said. “We hope to play in front or a packed house at Bartow Arena. To play a true road game will be a great benefit for us as we prepare for the upcoming season. It will be a valuable test and learning experience for our team as we begin building this program to a championship level.”
Tickets, which are expected to go on sale tomorrow via the UAB ticket office, will be $10 for individuals or $5 for groups of 20 or more.
Division I men’s basketball teams are allowed two preseason events, an open exhibition contest against a non-Division I team and/or a closed scrimmage versus another Division I team. In May, the NCAA set guidelines to allow programs to use one of their preseason events to participate in an exhibition against another Division I program to benefit a charitable organization involved in providing relief for those affected by a catastrophic event. The waiver for the UGA-UAB contest was approved on Tuesday.
A year ago, Georgia faced Michigan State in Grand Rapids, Mich., in a contest that raised just shy of $370,000 for the Red Cross’ relief efforts following Hurricane Irma. Natural disasters the Red Cross is providing relief for this year include wildfires in California. The organization also will be called into action this week and in the future for those impacted by Hurricane Florence.
Crean, who was named National Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2012, is entering his first season at the helm of the Georgia program. In 18 combined campaigns at Marquette and Indiana, Crean has led teams to 13 postseason appearances, including nine NCAA Tournaments and a trip to the 2003 Final Four.
Ceasar, Donovan honored
Georgia volleyball’s Meghan Donovan and T’ara Ceasar have each earned recognition from the Southeastern Conference for their efforts at last weekend’s Buffs Invitational in Boulder, Colorado.
Donovan, a junior from St. Louis, was not only named the SEC Setter of the Week, she earned the title of SEC Player of the Week. Ceasar, a sophomore outside hitter from Panama City, Florida, was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
This is Donovan’s second SEC Setter of the Week this season and the first Player of the Week title of her career. Donovan dished out 11.7 assists per set last weekend and ran an offense that hit .202 on the weekend. In Friday’s match at No. 24 Colorado, she tied a career-best 56 assists as the Bulldogs hit .287 and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since Oct. 23, 2013. She recorded her fourth double-double of the season in Saturday’s match against Oklahoma with 50 assists and 12 digs. She finished the weekend with 25 digs (1.92 digs/set). She also contributed nine blocks on the weekend.
Donovan’s 11.41 assists per set leads the SEC after three weeks of play. Georgia’s 13.65 kills per set ranks third while its .243 hitting percentage ranks sixth.
“Meghan just flat out competes and works diligently every week to add a component to her game she couldn’t do before,” said head coach Tom Black. “She deserves this, and even more exciting, is thinking of how her game will grow and develop throughout the year.”
Dogs' finish second
Close to 450 singles and doubles matches took place this weekend at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, bringing to close another successful Southern Intercollegiate Championships.
On Monday — the fourth and final day of the event — Georgia’s Robert Loeb finished as the main singles draw runner-up with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to UCF’s Gabriel DeCamps. In the doubles semifinals, Loeb and Jan Zielinski lost in the semifinals, 8-2.
“For our team, it was great to get a lot of matches in and it was a good start to the season,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “We were a little stale at the beginning of the weekend, but I thought we got better. Robert Loeb played great and has really taken his game to a new level. It was great to see Sam and Alex win the DII doubles title and it was good for our freshmen to come out here and get some experience. We have a lot of hard work to put in to get to where we want to go, but I am pleased with the start.”
Swimming for a cure
For the first time, the Georgia swimming and diving team will join Swim Across America – Atlanta in its return to Lake Lanier on September 22 for the assembly of over 600 swimmers for cancer research.
The open water swim will combine swimmers of all ages and skill levels – youth, Olympians, collegiate athletes and cancer survivors – to fundraise for the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Forty-plus local swim teams across the state of Georgia join forces to support the seventh annual event.
“The Swim Across America event is a different way for our athletes to start this year,” Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle said. “The cause itself made it an easy decision because as we know, cancer is non-discriminatory and has already touched the lives of many of our athletes, and certainly will continue to down the road. It’s a great way for the swimming community to come together and do something extremely important for our great state. It’ll be fun to see our athletes adjust to being in a lake rather than an eight-lane pool. We are really excited about being there.”