University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: Caitlyn Tam
Ceasar Makes Striking Impact
August 28, 2017 | Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Georgia's T'ara Ceasar was named the SEC volleyball Freshman of the Week on Monday, which should come as no surprise at all if you saw her in action over the weekend, during the Bulldogs' season-opening sweep of the Benson Hospitality Invitational.
Ceasar, the talented outside hitter that led the Dogs with 38 kills over the four matches, was one of many bright spots for Georgia, which was playing its first matches under new coach Tom Black. Another freshman outside hitter, Rachel Ritchie, easily could have received the award from the SEC after producing 37 kills.
"I think Rachel and T'ara were hitting at a phenomenal rate, especially for freshmen — that's insane," Black said Saturday night, following Georgia's comfortable win over LIU Brooklyn. "We're excited about developing them and seeing how good they can be."
"The freshmen are just so energetic and ready to go," said junior Majesti Bass, no slouch herself with 30 kills.
In the wins against Presbyterian, UNC Asheville, George Mason and LIU Brooklyn, Georgia took all 12 sets played. Black said one of the things that pleased him the most was seeing his young and eager squad improve each time it took the court.
"I really thought they got better with each match," he said. "It wasn't just about winning, it wasn't about anything other than getting better. It was really cool to see that they wanted to learn, they wanted to problem-solve, they wanted to get better each match.
"It was cool, between matches we had multiple people come in to watch the match we just played and then make some changes in the afternoon. That's says a lot, to be able to do that."
The 6-foot-1 Ceasar, from Panama City, Fla., quickly made her presence felt inside the Ramsey Center. When she's going up for kills, off sets from sophomore Meghan Donovan, she strikes the ball with serious intentions and serious power. The sound bounces off the walls just as it bounces off her opponents.
Like a point guard distributing to hot shooters, Donovan said feeding to her new weapons in Ceasar and Ritchie "makes my job a lot easier, that's for sure.
"Being a setter you want to set someone that wants the ball and you know is going to put it away, so me having confidence in them, that's huge."
Ceasar said she began to hit the way she does now around age 16. A January enrollee at Georgia, she said her time under Black has already made a big difference in her game.
"For one, there's something with the timing, something called being on our second step," Ceasar said. "Also, he's always telling me, 'Transition deep, transition deep,' because it gives me more daylight on the net.
"I can't wait to see ... this is our first (weekend), so what's it going to be like at the end of the season?"
And what's Ceasar going to be like with 15 games under her belt, or a couple of whole seasons?
"The best thing about T'ara is that I can see how good she can be," Black said. "I think she kind of has an idea, but she's so far from where she's going to be. She wants it bad; she's already at a good level, but she's going to go so far — and I know she's going to do the work to do that."
And all signs point to the whole team doing much the same: working and learning and getting better and better. Georgia is already much improved from the squad the began practice a few weeks ago.
"I think we found that we're a very scrappy, hard-working team," said Donovan, who had a strong freshman season last fall and was very sharp over the weekend, with 115 assists and one error. "Since the beginning of the preseason we've just grown exponentially."
Georgia travels to Athens, Ohio, this weekend for the Ohio Invitational.
UGAAA Staff Writer
Georgia's T'ara Ceasar was named the SEC volleyball Freshman of the Week on Monday, which should come as no surprise at all if you saw her in action over the weekend, during the Bulldogs' season-opening sweep of the Benson Hospitality Invitational.
Ceasar, the talented outside hitter that led the Dogs with 38 kills over the four matches, was one of many bright spots for Georgia, which was playing its first matches under new coach Tom Black. Another freshman outside hitter, Rachel Ritchie, easily could have received the award from the SEC after producing 37 kills.
"I think Rachel and T'ara were hitting at a phenomenal rate, especially for freshmen — that's insane," Black said Saturday night, following Georgia's comfortable win over LIU Brooklyn. "We're excited about developing them and seeing how good they can be."
"The freshmen are just so energetic and ready to go," said junior Majesti Bass, no slouch herself with 30 kills.
In the wins against Presbyterian, UNC Asheville, George Mason and LIU Brooklyn, Georgia took all 12 sets played. Black said one of the things that pleased him the most was seeing his young and eager squad improve each time it took the court.
"I really thought they got better with each match," he said. "It wasn't just about winning, it wasn't about anything other than getting better. It was really cool to see that they wanted to learn, they wanted to problem-solve, they wanted to get better each match.
"It was cool, between matches we had multiple people come in to watch the match we just played and then make some changes in the afternoon. That's says a lot, to be able to do that."
The 6-foot-1 Ceasar, from Panama City, Fla., quickly made her presence felt inside the Ramsey Center. When she's going up for kills, off sets from sophomore Meghan Donovan, she strikes the ball with serious intentions and serious power. The sound bounces off the walls just as it bounces off her opponents.
Like a point guard distributing to hot shooters, Donovan said feeding to her new weapons in Ceasar and Ritchie "makes my job a lot easier, that's for sure.
"Being a setter you want to set someone that wants the ball and you know is going to put it away, so me having confidence in them, that's huge."
Ceasar said she began to hit the way she does now around age 16. A January enrollee at Georgia, she said her time under Black has already made a big difference in her game.
"For one, there's something with the timing, something called being on our second step," Ceasar said. "Also, he's always telling me, 'Transition deep, transition deep,' because it gives me more daylight on the net.
"I can't wait to see ... this is our first (weekend), so what's it going to be like at the end of the season?"
And what's Ceasar going to be like with 15 games under her belt, or a couple of whole seasons?
"The best thing about T'ara is that I can see how good she can be," Black said. "I think she kind of has an idea, but she's so far from where she's going to be. She wants it bad; she's already at a good level, but she's going to go so far — and I know she's going to do the work to do that."
And all signs point to the whole team doing much the same: working and learning and getting better and better. Georgia is already much improved from the squad the began practice a few weeks ago.
"I think we found that we're a very scrappy, hard-working team," said Donovan, who had a strong freshman season last fall and was very sharp over the weekend, with 115 assists and one error. "Since the beginning of the preseason we've just grown exponentially."
Georgia travels to Athens, Ohio, this weekend for the Ohio Invitational.
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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