University of Georgia Athletics
New Look, New Home
October 12, 2017 | General, Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
The first things that hit you in the new-look Stegeman Coliseum, which the Georgia volleyball team christened Wednesday night, are the new giant center-hung scoreboard and the vivid colors on display, both on the top-of-the-line screens and all around.
The volleyball court itself — and going forward Stegeman will be volleyball's match home when there's not a basketball conflict — looks great, with the faux-hardwood effect in the playing area and a lot of bold red all around it. The other dominant color is, of course, black. This is Georgia, after all. But it's not just any black, it's a striking matte black, to my eyes at least, that plays off the red very well.
Men's basketball coach Mark Fox said recently that he was looking at the re-done facility with Georgia hoops legend and Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, and Wilkins, who played here in the early '80s. told him that it was "an arena" for the first time. Agreed.
As someone that grew up a few hundred yards from here , who spent countless hours in the 1970s and '80s attending Bulldog events or just running around like Stegeman and the rest of Georgia's facilities were a playground for my brothers, friends and me — and has spent many, many more hours here since, as a sportswriter — the new Stegeman for the first time feels like it has a look, a color scheme, a bit of attitude.
"It's awesome," sophomore setter Meghan Donovan said after Wednesday's match.
This is no longer a perfectly functional building with a lot of high-end graphics and "G" logos around. This is now a home court; it has never been the home of the Bulldogs more since its doors opened in 1964 than it is now. Nor has it ever been more comfortable to sit in and watch the Dawgs play, whether that was during its big debut Wednesday or in a couple of weeks when basketball starts.
The offseason renovations to Stegeman have clearly been a success — put simply, the place has never looked better — as have the renovations and reconstruction of Georgia's volleyball program under new coach Tom Black. Wednesday's match, a loss to Tennessee in five sets after leading 2-1, wasn't the outcome anyone not wearing orange wanted on a big night for the team and Stegeman.
"We're super appreciative to be here, it's an amazing arena and we want to live up to it," Black said. "Tonight wasn't an example of that, but we'll learn from it and get better."
Georgia's program went without an SEC win in 2015 and prevailed just once in conference play last season, and the Bulldogs are 13-8 and 2-5 in the SEC after Wednesday. There's nothing to celebrate yet, far from it, but progress is clearly being made — in overall quality of play and competitiveness — and there are still 11 more SEC matches to be played.
"I see changes every week," Black said. "It's always a challenge for a player to make changes in practice and then get it done in the game, sometimes there's a mental struggle with that, and I think we're going through that."
Making Stegeman volleyball's home court is part of that progress, part of that step forward for the program. The Bulldogs' court at the Ramsey Center is a fine place to play — the crowd and atmosphere when Georgia beat Georgia Tech there last month was superb, better than it has ever been — but it's not the same as playing here. There's boldness and ambitiousness to making a 10,500-seat coliseum your home, not just a once-a-year location for a match.
When Black was hired in December, moving the home matches to Stegeman was high on his list of priorities, as it was for J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity, Black said.
"It was one of the first things Greg said, too. This is a huge recruiting advantage and I think it makes the players know they're part of something bigger," Black said.
"I love it," said Donovan, who played in Stegeman once last season as a freshman. "I think as we keep getting more competitive and winning hard matches, it will draw bigger crowds. The whole atmosphere in here tonight was great."
Wednesday's debut wasn't quite what Black and the Bulldogs wanted, at least on the court, but they'll return home to Stegeman on Oct. 25, when they host Arkansas.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
UGAAA Staff Writer
The first things that hit you in the new-look Stegeman Coliseum, which the Georgia volleyball team christened Wednesday night, are the new giant center-hung scoreboard and the vivid colors on display, both on the top-of-the-line screens and all around.
The volleyball court itself — and going forward Stegeman will be volleyball's match home when there's not a basketball conflict — looks great, with the faux-hardwood effect in the playing area and a lot of bold red all around it. The other dominant color is, of course, black. This is Georgia, after all. But it's not just any black, it's a striking matte black, to my eyes at least, that plays off the red very well.
Men's basketball coach Mark Fox said recently that he was looking at the re-done facility with Georgia hoops legend and Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, and Wilkins, who played here in the early '80s. told him that it was "an arena" for the first time. Agreed.
As someone that grew up a few hundred yards from here , who spent countless hours in the 1970s and '80s attending Bulldog events or just running around like Stegeman and the rest of Georgia's facilities were a playground for my brothers, friends and me — and has spent many, many more hours here since, as a sportswriter — the new Stegeman for the first time feels like it has a look, a color scheme, a bit of attitude.
"It's awesome," sophomore setter Meghan Donovan said after Wednesday's match.
This is no longer a perfectly functional building with a lot of high-end graphics and "G" logos around. This is now a home court; it has never been the home of the Bulldogs more since its doors opened in 1964 than it is now. Nor has it ever been more comfortable to sit in and watch the Dawgs play, whether that was during its big debut Wednesday or in a couple of weeks when basketball starts.
The offseason renovations to Stegeman have clearly been a success — put simply, the place has never looked better — as have the renovations and reconstruction of Georgia's volleyball program under new coach Tom Black. Wednesday's match, a loss to Tennessee in five sets after leading 2-1, wasn't the outcome anyone not wearing orange wanted on a big night for the team and Stegeman.
"We're super appreciative to be here, it's an amazing arena and we want to live up to it," Black said. "Tonight wasn't an example of that, but we'll learn from it and get better."
Georgia's program went without an SEC win in 2015 and prevailed just once in conference play last season, and the Bulldogs are 13-8 and 2-5 in the SEC after Wednesday. There's nothing to celebrate yet, far from it, but progress is clearly being made — in overall quality of play and competitiveness — and there are still 11 more SEC matches to be played.
"I see changes every week," Black said. "It's always a challenge for a player to make changes in practice and then get it done in the game, sometimes there's a mental struggle with that, and I think we're going through that."
Making Stegeman volleyball's home court is part of that progress, part of that step forward for the program. The Bulldogs' court at the Ramsey Center is a fine place to play — the crowd and atmosphere when Georgia beat Georgia Tech there last month was superb, better than it has ever been — but it's not the same as playing here. There's boldness and ambitiousness to making a 10,500-seat coliseum your home, not just a once-a-year location for a match.
When Black was hired in December, moving the home matches to Stegeman was high on his list of priorities, as it was for J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity, Black said.
"It was one of the first things Greg said, too. This is a huge recruiting advantage and I think it makes the players know they're part of something bigger," Black said.
"I love it," said Donovan, who played in Stegeman once last season as a freshman. "I think as we keep getting more competitive and winning hard matches, it will draw bigger crowds. The whole atmosphere in here tonight was great."
Wednesday's debut wasn't quite what Black and the Bulldogs wanted, at least on the court, but they'll return home to Stegeman on Oct. 25, when they host Arkansas.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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