Freshman Roxanne McVey broke the Mississippi State record for digs in a season with a 23-dig performance Sunday against Missouri.
McVey, who has been the SEC leader in digs the majority of the year, increased her conference lead in digs while breaking Megan Lukasek’s record of 511 digs set in 2007. McVey now has 524 digs with two matches remaining to build on her record.
McVey said her teammates have pushed her hard every day in the gym to be the best she can be.
“It’s awesome to work that hard in the gym and then something like that happens; it’s just like all the hard work paying off,” McVey said. “It’s just a mindset. You have to go in there thinking you can do the impossible, and it’s going to be exciting for the years to come to have set the standard for myself and just keep going and try to beat myself everytime.”
This record was the second of McVey’s short career. Earlier this season, the freshman set an MSU and SEC record with 50 digs in a match against LSU.
Unfortunately, the record-breaking performance from McVey was not enough to give the Dogs the win over the Tigers as MSU fell 25-9, 25-16, 26-24 on senior day.
The Bulldogs had a 20-15 lead in the third set but were not able to push through and pull it out. Head coach Jenny Hazelwood said youth sets in at the end of close matches, causing the girls to make critical mistakes.
“We have a lot of matchers where we do a lot of really good things, and to sustain that, it takes a certain amount of mental toughness and fortitude to keep that high level of focus,” Hazelwood said. “I think that’s what we’re having to learn.”
State’s lone senior Chanelle Baker was honored before Sunday’s match, her last home match of her career.
Although this has not been the type of season on which any senior would wish to go out, Baker said she learned to keep her head up during adversity and not coast.
“It’s been a tough journey getting here, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Baker said. “It’s made me who I am today. I’ve learned a lot of life lessons, and I’m hoping they will help me with whatever I do the rest of my life.”
McVey’s 14 digs were not enough to give State the win over Ole Miss Friday, either.
The Dogs fell to the Rebels 25-20, 25-21, 25-14. Ole Miss had just one more kill than MSU, but the Rebels blocked the Dogs seven times, giving State a .242 attack percentage.
Sophomore setter Rachel Williams said the Rebels played steady and MSU simply did not.
“We made some mental mistakes. I myself made a lot tonight, and that just can’t happen against a team like Ole Miss,” Williams said. “Taylor Scott was a little fire plug there at the end. I was looking for her, and she can usually get a few kills when we need one. She does really good at the end of games.”
Scott, who finished with 12 kills against Ole Miss, is one of six Bulldog freshmen who have made an impact in their first season. She leads the team with 263 kills and is followed by fellow rookie Sarah Nielsen, who has 205 kills.
With only one senior and one junior on the roster, the majority of State’s players will be returning for the next few seasons.
McVey said she is excited to see what the team will do next year after starting with a clean slate.
“This year we all thought we were going to be really successful. But we didn’t do that, but it just makes us so much more mentally tough having to go through this all together, and then next year we will be all together again,” McVey said. “I think we will pull through and end up surprising some people next year.”
Before State looks to next season, the team has two matches this week at Georgia Wednesday and at Tennessee Friday.
In the first battle of the Bulldogs, Georgia pulled out a four-set victory in a close match. Tennessee, a top team in the East, is 13-4 in the SEC this season.
Hazelwood said she knows the Vols pose a tough matchup to any team, and she believes State matches up well against Georgia.
“I think as we are continuing to try to play each match a little better and a little better, we’re going to tell these girls to fight to win each rally, win each point and fight for that set,” Hazelwood said. “Next year, I think people are going to say, ‘Wow, where did this come from?’ Well, we’ve had the potential all along, we just are missing a few key pieces right now and are incredibly young. I think we’ve got a great future ahead for this program.”