Mississippi State University’s football team may be hitting the road, but Maroon and White action will still be hitting Starkville, as the MSU volleyball team will host the annual Maroon Classic in the Newell-Grissom building to open up its first home games of the season. The Bulldogs return home from trips to Texas and Indiana after starting the season on the road for the first time since 2006.
MSU (2-5) has been on the road for the first two weekends of season play, participating in the Sam Houston Invitational and the Indiana Invitational. The Bulldogs have had to face plenty of adversity so far in their early season, as the team has been plagued by both injuries and illnesses. But for Head Coach Jenny Hazelwood, it is all seen as a learning experience.
“Different people have had to step up,” Hazelwood said. “It’s been really good for us though, because we have had to try a lot of different lineups because we have had a lot of people out.”
That may be seen by many as a bad start to the season, but Hazelwood said she is actually happy to see her team respond so positively to early misfortunes.
“As we get healthy, we’re going to be able to put a lot more together because of the situation,” Hazelwood said. “We have a team full of fighters.”
Despite the different lineups, Hazelwood praised the defensive side of her team in her team’s first seven games.
“We have a great blocking team,” she said. “We just have to stay disciplined.”
Even though the team has had a rough-go of things early on, it is ready to be playing back at home. Junior setter Shelby Anderton, who is a transfer student-athlete, will play in her first game in front of a home SEC crowd this week, and she said she couldn’t be more excited.
“I’ll be having family and friends here,” Anderton said with a smile. “I’m also going against some old club teammates and a former teammate from my old school.”
Anderton ranks second on the team in assists, totaling 100 in her first two tournaments as a Bulldog.
Leading the team in kills in the young season is sophomore middle blocker Chelsea Duhs, who has seen an increased role on the team in her second year.
“It’s just more of a challenge this year,” Duhs said. “But I’m excited to see where this team can go, and I think we have a lot more room for growth.”
Duhs also leads the team in kills per set, averaging 2.56.
Junior middle blocker Alex Warren is in her third year as a Bulldog, and her expectations for the year are to constantly get better.
“We have to be more disciplined and work the kinks out,” Warren said. “Hopefully everyone is healthy now, and we can play like we want to play.”
Though the Bulldogs are not too satisfied with their first few matches, there has been stellar play from freshman libero Payton Harris, who leads the entire nation in digs with 171 and digs per set with a 6.33 average. She has also had a season high of 32 digs against the University of Texas – Pan American, which is the most by any SEC player this year.
After traveling to Texas and Indiana the past two weekends, Hazelwood said her team is finally ready to spend a few weeks at home.
“The travel alone is rough,” Hazelwood said. “The team morale is really high, because we are finally getting some healthy players back, and a lot of other good things are happening too.”
The Bulldogs will take on South Alabama, Memphis, Nicholls State and Northwestern State throughout the weekend in the Newell-Grissom Building, and can be seen televised live on SEC Network +.
After the Maroon Classic, the Bulldogs will continue to play at home as they host another annual tournament in the Bulldog Invitational from Sept. 18-20.