Mississippi State volleyball took on a pair of SEC foes this weekend. On Friday, they took on the Missouri Tigers, who are ranked as the No. 11 in the country according to the rating percentage index or RPI. On Sunday, MSU took on the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs would fall to the Tigers in four closely contested sets. They lost the first set 25-27. But the Bulldogs would rally back and take the second set 28-26 and go into the intermission with a 1-1 tie.
“It was very positive,” said Sophomore Peyton Harris on the attitude at intermission. “Yes we just won but we had two more sets so we came out of the locker room with a next game focus.”
The third set went a lot like the first. MSU and Mizzou played point for point before the Tigers pulled away and won the set 25-22. The fourth and final set was not nearly as close as the first three. Mizzou jumped out to a 19-10 lead before finishing off the Bulldogs and winning 25-17.
“It was a hard loss, but we knew we had to come back and win,” said senior Alex Warren. We just had to get over it faster.”
Against Georgia, the MSU got off to a hot start, scoring early and eventually pulling away to a 20-13 lead before winning the first set 25-17. In the second set it was a closely contested game early on ,with the score being 11-10 in favor of MSU as one point. However, MSU would score twelve straight points and put away Georgia 25-11. Coming out of the intermission, MSU would carry their momentum into the third set and win it 25-18, completing the sweep.
“Missouri was really good Friday night and we thought we had our chances. I think the girls were a little frustrated by that but how you bounce back and respond to tough spots like that indicates how you are progressing,” said Head Coach David McFatrich on his teams turn around to sweep Georgia.
The Bulldogs are now 13-6 on the season and 3-3 in conference play. They will continue their 2015 campaign in Baton Rouge against LSU next Friday. Their next home game will be Oct. 25th against Tennessee.
“We have to be consistent. If we just stay steady and have a few peaks we are fine, but if you stay steady and have a few valleys, that is when you are in trouble,” McFatrich said.
