If the Mississippi State volleyball team’s goals were true to what junior hitter Ioana Demian said they would be heading into the weekend, the team was successful in at least one of the weekend’s matches.
“We may not be able to beat Florida, but we can still at least compete,” Demian said last week. “That’s why we’re practicing hard entering this match. It’s not about winning, it’s about competing.”
The team apparently took Demian’s words seriously.
The Bulldogs (6-24, 1-18 SEC) fell to the Gators (23-3, 17-2 SEC) Friday 3-0 by scores of 25-23, 25-16 and 25-20.
It was that 25-23 opening set that scared the Gators the most.
The Bulldogs, with six kills from Demian and three blocks by sophomore Ashley Newsome, went toe-to-toe with Florida in the first period. MSU even took a 21-15 lead behind a quintet of serves by freshman Kelsey Nichols.
Florida roared back, however, with a 7-0 run to knot the score, then outlasted the Bulldogs for the come-from-behind win.
Florida would then go on to take the next two sets, never even trailing in the third set, despite solid efforts from the Bulldogs.
Despite the loss, fifth-year MSU head coach Tina Seals said she was pleased with the team’s performance.
“Our kids played hard tonight, and our freshmen didn’t back down against one of the nation’s top programs,” Seals said following the Florida contest. “The team chemistry was good tonight and we had a lot of freshmen that stepped up and competed well in their roles.”
The Bulldogs and Gators matched at the net with seven blocks each. State was led by Demian and Newsome, who notched three blocks apiece, while freshman Mandy Mellencamp had four block assists.
Seals said she was also pleased with the play of junior setter Dorey Gray, who served up 24 assists on the contest. Six different Bulldogs earned kills in the contest, including Gray, who had one.
Florida head coach Mary Wise, who is in her 18th year as coach of the Gators, said the Bulldogs provided a no-holds-barred challenge for the Gators.
“I thought the story of the match was the play of our outside hitters,” Wise said.
“Mississippi State came in here and played conscience-free. They played hard and made blocks early, but we responded well. The good thing is that even though we didn’t play our best, we still came back from the first set [and] were able to win 3-0,” she said.
Things did not go so hot for Mississippi State Sunday, however.
What went hot instead was South Carolina’s (21-8, 12-7 SEC) offense against the Bulldogs.
The Gamecocks posted up a .536 team hitting percentage against the Bulldogs en route to a sweep by scores of 25-10, 25-14 and 25-8.
The 32 total points scored by the Bulldogs was a season low, even amidst the team’s current 16-match losing skid.
The Bulldogs led in only the third set, and that lead was a brief opening service ace by freshman Grace Hoyt.
What told the story most to Seals, however, was the Bulldogs’ lack of effective serve reception.
“We played very hard against Florida, and I’m sure we were tired,” Seals said. “We had a total breakdown of serve reception, and South Carolina did a great job of exploiting that.”
Once again, MSU was forced to adjust its lineup on the fly this weekend, as freshman Leanna King was unable to make the trip after waking up with a virus Friday morning.
The Bulldogs are familiar with the process, however, as they lost Cristina Jucan and Faith Steinwedell for the season, as well as Kellye Jordan and now King for short periods of time due to illnesses.
The Bulldogs will look to end their season, and their losing skid in the process, on a positive note as they will take on Alabama Friday night in a 7 p.m. contest in Tuscaloosa.
Seals said the team’s goals are clear for the season-closing contest.
“We are going to play hard and improve upon what we did wrong this weekend,” Seals said.