Youth rules on Bulldogs' 2009 volleyball roster

Georgia's volleyball team hasn't even played a game yet and it's already crossed into uncharted territory.

The Bulldogs open the 2009 season without a solitary senior on the roster. With no four-year players, Georgia turned to a pair of sophomores, setter Kathleen Gates and libero Carla Tietz, to be team captains.

"The only thing that calms my nerves is knowing the character of these two young ladies," Georgia coach Joel McCartney said. "They are program kids through and through. They're the type of athletes that will come in and knock down your door to get film review or scouting reports. They're model student-athletes. We call them our A-camp athletes and they're the ones who really came in and invested in the program immediately."

Georgia starts its season on Friday when it travels to a tournament at Georgia Tech, facing the Yellow Jackets in its first match at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs also play Mercer and Austin Peay, at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively, in the tournament on Saturday.

The Bulldogs' youth and the loss of first-team all-conference hitter Maria Taylor did not go unnoticed by the voters in the Southeastern Conference preseason poll. The coaches predicted that Georgia would finish last in the SEC East.

"It's a great motivating factor for us," Gates said. "They have no idea what kind of team we're going to have. Our freshman class is awesome. Maria was a great part of our team. But we've learned a lot since she's gone and the other coaches have no idea what's coming."

The team voted Gates as the captain and Tietz as the assistant captain by a wide margin, McCartney said. Their selection is also an outgrowth of their playing the two main on-court leadership positions, setter for offense and libero for defense.

"That's a blessing for us because those are two very natural leadership roles," McCartney sai

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