In order to finish with at least a .500 record in the SEC this season, the Mississippi State volleyball team could have lost only one match in its last six. The Bulldogs (11-14, 6-10 SEC), after winning Friday night, dropped Sunday’s match, making the postseason seem even harder to attain.
On Friday, State downed Auburn (11-16, 3-13 SEC) on the road 3-0, by scores of 30-26, 30-22 and 30-28.
The win completes the series sweep for the Bulldogs against the Tigers.
It was the first time MSU had swept Auburn in a season since 2001.
“I thought we did a great job at Auburn,” head coach Tina Seals said. “Road wins are always good, and playing is always tough on the road, regardless [if] it’s the SEC or not. We had Cristina out again with injuries, so we had to start Ashley again on the outside. We had some outstanding play from Jamie again, and we were able to come away with a win there.”
Senior opposite hitter Jamie Joyner led the Bulldogs offensively against the Tigers, tallying a match-high 15 kills on a .324 average. As a whole, MSU hit at a .306 mark, the best mark against a conference opponent this season.
The win was also Seals’ first victory in her home state of Alabama since her arrival to MSU three years ago.
“I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Seals said. “We were just hoping to win both matches. Auburn was a great win regardless. We’ve beaten Alabama and Auburn before, I guess I had never thought about that fact. We were just looking for two road wins this weekend.”
Jamie Joyner led the Bulldogs again Sunday afternoon with 10 kills, but her and the rest of MSU’s efforts weren’t enough, as they fell to Georgia (16-10, 7-9 SEC).
Georgia won the match 3-0, splitting the season series between the two Bulldog rosters, by scores of 30-27, 30-23 and 30-22.
“We had a hard time stringing along points in a row,” Seals said. “Offensively, Georgia did a nice job against us. We just had a hard time getting our offense going.”
Assisting Joyner on the offensive highlight sheet was freshman middle blocker Ashley Newsome, who matched her season-best performance with nine kills on the match.
The Georgia win was only the second in the past seven meetings between the two schools.
“We’ve got two hitters on the outside who have played well in Meaghan Schlueter and Ashley Newsome. Each of them has different things they bring to the table,” Seals said. “Ashley did a really good job this weekend because she’s so athletic. She brings a lot of skill to the outside.”
MSU will look to maintain the possibility of postseason play this weekend, as the Dawgs will welcome LSU and Ole Miss to the Newell-Grissom Building for a weekend homestand.
The contests won’t be easy, as State fell to each of the two schools earlier this season by scores of 3-1 in both matches.
“Right now, I’m just focused on one match at a time,” Seals said. “We’re not worried about the postseason right now. We’re focusing on LSU and Ole Miss and trying to work hard to get ready for them. We need to look no farther than our next opponent. Next weekend is a crucial weekend, and we look forward to the challenge both schools will bring to us.