The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs closed out their home schedule Friday and Sunday with two conference losses.
MSU (6-22, 1-16 SEC) has clinched its worst season since head coach Tina Seals has taken control of the team.
That’s not to say the team has not experienced positives along the way, though.
The Bulldogs fell to Arkansas (7-20, 4-13 SEC) Friday in a close five sets. The match marked the first time MSU won a set in seven straight matches.
Arkansas jumped out to an early lead, winning the first two sets 25-18 and 25-20. However, the young Bulldog squad fought back and evened up the score with set wins of 25-22 and 25-23. Just as soon as MSU could smell victory, the Lady Razorbacks took the match with a 15-9 win in the final set.
The Bulldogs finally found a cure for their offensive drought, finishing the match with a .248 hitting percentage. The clip was the team’s second-highest mark on the season, and the highest since the second match of the year.
“We played with a lot of spirit and focus tonight, and it seemed like we got a lift from the support shown by our fans,” Seals said. “We had one of the most intense weeks of practice in my coaching career, and the players responded with one of their best team efforts. It’s very encouraging to see our young players step up their play like they did tonight. I saw a lot of positives.”
Seals said she believed the fact that several players had a solid night helped lead to the team’s success.
“We had more balance on offense and were able to distribute the ball better than we have all season,” Seals said.
Sunday, however, was quite different than Friday.
The Bulldogs looked like their traditional selves as they hosted Ole Miss (12-14, 8-9 SEC) in the Dawgs’ final home match of the season. The Lady Rebels trounced the Bulldogs by scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-18.
The match ended the four-match home win streak the Bulldogs had built up against Ole Miss, and was only the third loss in the series in the five-year Seals era.
In high contrast to Friday, no Bulldog finished Sunday’s contest with double-digit kills. Demian paced MSU with nine, while Newsome and Mellencamp finished with seven and six, respectively.
The Lady Rebs out-hit MSU .222 to .071, reminding the Bulldogs their offense wasn’t perfect quite yet.
Freshman Grace Hoyt, who finished the match with four kills on a .300 performance, said though the team played well, the loss was still frustrating.
“It was tough, but we fought really hard in both matches this weekend,” Hoyt said. “For our last matches, we’re just going to work hard on every point, and we’ll see how that turns out. We’re not going to give up.”
Kellye Jordan finished Sunday’s match with four kills and 12 digs. She said the team has grown a lot throughout its trials.
“We’re still building,” Jordan said. “We’re good at some points, but [Ole Miss] just had a 13-point run in that first [set]. There’s just some things we need to work on. Our chemistry is still good though.”