After losing 12 straight matches stretching all the way back to Oct. 3, the Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs are taking tough steps on the search for improvement.
This week, that meant practicing Wednesday for about three hours, about 30 or 45 minutes longer than normal.
Freshman setter Grace Hoyt has drawn starts in nine matches this season and said the team knew where its flaws were and focused on those areas in practice.
“We worked on ball control and defense and finishing matches, mainly,” Hoyt said. “Those are the main things we needed work on.”
Hoyt is one of eight MSU freshmen who have seen action on the court this season, in a year that has seen the team become much younger than it started out.
Lone senior Cristina Jucan never played in an SEC contest this season before aggravating a recurring back injury that has caused her to sit out for the remainder of the season.
Freshman outside hitter Faith Steinwedell, who was injured in the Oct. 24 home match against Kentucky, had totaled 134 kills prior to her departure.
Steinwedell said she believes the team’s recent losing streak did not necessarily revolve solely around her absence.
“It is just a matter of time, having to adjust to the new lineup,” Steinwedell said. “It’s not like only I was significant, because we can do anything with any of the players on our bench. It’s just a mountain we have to keep climbing.”
That mountain has been a very steep one since the beginning of the Bulldogs’ SEC schedule.
The Bulldogs’ 14 conference losses have been the highest total in the five-year Tina Seals era at MSU. The team hasn’t won a set since its home match with Georgia on Oct. 19. The team has been out-hit .130 to .218 on the season.
Though the summit seems far away, MSU assistant coach Don Perkins said he believes it is not unreachable. In fact, he said he expects the team to do well this weekend as it faces Arkansas (6-19, 3-12 SEC) and in-state rival Ole Miss (11-13, 7-8 SEC) at home today and Sunday, respectively.
“In a conference like the SEC, when we have good athletes, we feel we have the ability to compete with every team we play,” Perkins said. “With our age, we don’t expect to win every time we go out, but we should be in the position to win every time. Especially with this weekend’s competition in Arkansas and Ole Miss, we should be able to compete well, if not defeat, both of them.”
In the previous meetings this season, MSU fell to both teams 3-0 on the road. Perkins, who has been out for several weeks with an illness, said the team has suffered with basics in his absence, and believes that working on those will help the team improve.
“When you don’t have contact with the players, a lot of your impact is greatly reduced,” Perkins said, referencing his illness. “We also lost a set of eyes and hands, which makes a big difference because we have a small coaching staff. Every coach you see on a team has a purpose, and a lot of our job is paying attention to small, technical details.”