The Soccer Dogs (7-6, 2-4 SEC) will hope to carry the momentum from last Sunday’s 3-0 win over LSU into this weekend, as they play host to two SEC neighbors to the north.

“It’s going to do a lot of things for us this weekend,” said junior Ashley Stinson of Sunday’s win, which came after three consecutive heartbreaking losses. “We haven’t been performing well and it gave us a boost of confidence. Hopefully we’ll keep things going in the right direction.”

The Vanderbilt Commodores (7-2-5, 3-1-2 SEC), in second in the SEC East and 8-5 all-time against the Bulldogs, will make the trek for a Friday night match at the Turner Soccer Complex

Georgia topped Vanderbilt 2-1 in Nashville in the regular season last year before the Commodores knocked them out of the postseason with a 2-0 victory in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

Kentucky (7-5-2, 2-2-1 SEC) will travel to Athens Sunday afternoon to take on the Bulldogs in Georgia’s final conference home game of the season. The Soccer Dogs are a point behind the Wildcats and in the cellar of the SEC East after a preseason that saw them ranked nationally.

The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with Kentucky 7-4-1 following a scoreless tie last year in Lexington.

“It’s extremely important to win these home games,” said Stinson. “We have one of the best crowds here in the SEC and we have to perform well to keep drawing crowds and to get to the SEC tournament.”

- Tyler Estep

Volley Dogs enjoy new player rotation

Now that they have gotten into the teeth of the Southeastern Conference schedule, the struggling Georgia Volley Dogs (4-14, 0-8 SEC) still find themselves a team in transition.

Having already been forced to integrate seven new players into the roster at the start of the season, all of the Bulldogs have been adjusting to a brand new system over the last several weeks.

“A little change can bring you some energy,” head coach Steffi Legall said. “Having lost a few matches in a row, we felt we needed something a little different.”

For most of the season, Georgia had played a 5-1 lineup, meaning they used five hitters and one setter.

But before their Sept. 29 match with Alabama, the team switched to a 6-2, where they rotate six hitters and often play two setters at once.

“It’s really allowed us to balance the setting responsibility between Nikki (Hawkins) and Chelsea (Young),” she said.

“We knew we had two capable setters, and it’s a long season for one setter to have to carry the burden all by herself.”

Having played behind Hawkins for most of the year, Young, a junior, has posted double digits in assists in all three matches in the new 6-2, after having no more than eight in the first five SEC contests.

Freshman middle blocker Josefine Ehmke also has taken advantage of the rotation, earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors for her performances at Kentucky and Tennessee last weekend, where she averaged more than 3 kills a game.

“She did a good job of putting herself into positions where the setters could get the ball to her,” Legall said.

Georgia will take on both Mississippi schools at home this weekend as they host Mississippi State on Friday and Ole Miss on Sunday.

- Lawrence Conneff