Having concluded a four-match stretch against SEC Eastern Division opponents, Mississippi State volleyball (6-21, 2-14 SEC) will take on Arkansas (11-15, 5-10 SEC) today at 7 p.m. and Ole Miss (8-17, 2-14 SEC) at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday in the Newell-Grissom Building.
MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood will look for the team’s third home win against the Razorbacks out of the last four meetings despite a four-set loss earlier in the season (Oct. 11).
“They’re serving really, really tough and they have a number of offensive weapons that can put the ball away,” Hazelwood said. “It’s going to be a tough match, but I think they’re a team that we can match up with and have success against.”
The Bulldogs will also set out to make a season sweep of the Rebels having earned the team’s first conference win in a five-set thriller earlier this season in Oxford (Oct. 9).
“Any time Ole Miss and Mississippi State play each other, it’s going to be a dogfight,” Hazelwood said. “It doesn’t matter who is maybe playing a little bit better or struggling a little bit. They will bring one of their best games of the year for that match, and hopefully so will we.”
Heading into the weekend, the Rebels and Razorbacks are both coming off losses to No. 19 LSU (20-5, 14-2 SEC), the only matchup of the weekend for both teams. Ole Miss dropped in three-sets last Friday (16-25, 18-25, 27-29) to the Tigers while Arkansas would fare better despite a five-set heart-breaker on Sunday (22-25, 25-27, 25-14, 25-21, 10-15).
“(Arkansas) could have easily blown up the top part of the conference,” assistant coach Branden Higa said. “They’re a good team; I don’t think their record reflects how good they are.”
Arkansas freshman outside hitter Jasmine Norton offers a lot in terms of ability, having earned her fifth SEC Freshman of the Week title earlier this week after a dominant performance against the Tigers. She hit a career-high 29 kills against LSU, giving her the top-two kill performances in an SEC match this season, after she hit 25 against South Carolina on Oct. 25.
Norton is the first to have won the award five times since its inception in 2005. She was only the third to have reached four in that span.
Ole Miss may have lost in straight sets to LSU but witnessed solid play by way of two freshmen, middle blocker Courtney Cunningham and outside hitter freshman Whitney Craven, along with senior outside hitter senior Caitlin Weiss – as the trio each concluded the match with a .300 hitting percentage or better.
“I think we’re going to get pumped up more than we would for a regular game because whenever you play your rivals, you want to beat them,” freshman setter Hillary Parker said.
MSU junior libero Kayla Woodard enters the weekend with 399 digs, fourth-most in the SEC.
Junior middle blocker Ashley Newsome leads the team with 275 kills, a .249 hitting percentage and 97 total blocks despite not registering a kill in last Sunday’s match against No. 11 Kentucky (24-2, 14-1 SEC), snapping a 65 consecutive match streak with at least one kill.
Senior setter Dorey Gray leads the team with 455 assists and is MSU’s nominee for the 2009 SEC Volleyball Community Service Team.