Until recent years, Florida and Georgia volleyball wasn’t much of an exciting rivalry.
The Gators and the Bulldogs have met 79 times since their first match in 1985, playing one another every season as many as three times. Florida has taken all but 10 of the matches.
Georgia dominated at the start, winning the first four consecutive matches against the Gators and six of the first 10. However, the period of success for the Bulldogs was short-lived, as Florida went on to command the matchup for 28 years.
In 1991, former Florida head coach Mary Wise took over the program and captained the Gators to 66 wins over Georgia across over three decades. Wise also recorded some of her biggest accomplishments against UGA, charting her 400th SEC win in a sweep over the Bulldogs in 2016 and her 700th career win against them in 2010.
From Oct. 26, 1990, until 2019, Georgia only pulled off one win, edging out a five-setter in 2008. To further the drought of competitiveness between the pair, Florida pulled off 12 consecutive sweeps over the Bulldogs from 2010 to 2017.
Starting in 2020, the Gators’ dominance wavered, falling at home 3-1 for the first time since 2008. Florida redeemed itself the next day, returning the favor and besting the Bulldogs 3-1. In 2021, UF faced Georgia again only once and confirmed the 2020 loss as a misstep, sweeping its opponent on the road.
However, in 2022, the unranked Bulldogs stormed into Gainesville to secure a sweep of their own, upsetting then-No. 18 Florida. These marked the last of the 3-0 results, as the next meeting in 2023 went to five sets — one of only seven times in rivalry history Florida and Georgia have gone to set five.
"It is hard to come up with new adjectives to describe this team and how they play against one of the best teams in the league with one of the best players in the league," Wise said after her team pulled off the five-set win.
When the two met again in 2024, Georgia took its third win in six years 3-1 at home.
For those in the Georgia program, last year’s win was special.
“I think it's just incredible,” said senior setter Clara Brower. “I'm really proud of our team coming together. Florida's a great team, and they had a great game. But I'm just really proud of our fight and our grit through that match."
With first-year head coach Ryan Theis now at the helm, Florida will look to reestablish its dominance over Georgia and avenge its 3-1 loss last season. Florida sits at 11-7 and 6-3 in conference with Georgia just ahead of them 13-5 and 5-3 in conference, both unranked.
The Gators are eyeing redemption after last season’s loss.
“I'm honestly just excited to get a new chance to kind of rewrite my performance story,” senior defensive specialist Emily Canaan said.
Unhappy with her performance against the Bulldogs last season, she hopes to lead the charge in avenging last year’s result.
The Gators will be on the road against UGA for the second straight year since 2015 as part of a three-game road stretch. The Gators currently have a 3-5 away record and will look to improve it at the Stegeman Coliseum on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m
Contact Ava DiCecca at adicecca@alligator.org. Follow her on X @avadicecca24.
Ava is a sophomore sports journalism student and the volleyball beat reporter for fall 2025. She enjoys playing basketball and volleyball in her free time and going on beach trips with friends. She has been a Boston sports fan all her life (Brad Marchand we miss you).
