The Mississippi State volleyball team opened its season with a two wins and a loss in the MSU/Microtel Classic. This marks the third straight year MSU has lost in the finale after winning the first two games of the tournament.The Dawgs (2-1) beat Murray State 3-0 in their season opener in games of 30-27, 30-25 and 33-31.
MSU beat three-time Classic opponent Arkansas-Little Rock 3-1, in games of 30-21, 30-26, 27-30, and 31-29 to improve to 2-0 on the early season.
“We had a great overall team effort [Saturday],” fourth-year MSU head volleyball coach Tina Seals said. “We’ve been battling so many injuries in the pre-eason and it took a lot of different players stepping up and making things happen for us [Saturday]. I am so proud of the fight and the heart that our players showed.”
Clemson also went 2-0 against the Racers and Trojans, and would go on to meet the Volley Dawgs Sunday in the Classic championship match.
The Bulldogs opened well against the Tigers Sunday afternoon, winning the first game 30-24.
Clemson rallied, however, and came back to beat the Bulldogs in three straight games of 30-23, 30-12, and 30-14.
“Clemson has an outstanding team, and after that first game we simply were not able to get anything going against them,” Seals said. “Clemson has a veteran club, and they played like it today. We had our moments early in the match, but once they got the momentum, we weren’t able to get much done.”
Seniors Jamie Joyner and Eva Kriegel represented MSU on the MSU/Microtel Classic All-Tournament Team.
Joyner paced State in the tournament finale with 12 kills while Kriegel finished the match with 27 assists.
The Dawgs will look to continue early season success in Waco, Texas as they must bounce back from a discouraging loss.
They will take on Oregon, Stephen F. Austin, and host school Baylor in the Baylor/Clarion Invitational.