Mississippi State volleyball (5-14, 1-7 SEC) faced off against Ole Miss (7-11, 1-7 SEC) in Oxford on Saturday as the Bulldogs got their first conference win under first-year head coach Jenny Hazelwood, ending a 25-game SEC losing streak.
MSU finished the weekend against Arkansas (10-9, 4-4 SEC) in Fayetteville but walked away with a loss in four sets.
Both MSU and Ole Miss entered the weekend seeking their first SEC win on the season, but the Bulldogs eluded the Rebels, winning 3-2 in an exciting five-set match (25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 25-21 and 15-12).
“They were hungry to get an SEC win, and with two teams going at it, there was a lot of back and forth,” Hazelwood said. “We were glad to win that battle.”
Junior libero Kayla Woodard said the team took care of business and executed like they had all week in practice.
“We knew we needed to take care of our side of the court, and so we set up and made them make adjustments,” she said.
Hazelwood said the team needs to have threats coming from all sides of the court, and the team played to their style and are definitely making progress.
The Bulldogs won the first set hitting a .394 clip with only one attack error. The team cooled off in sets two and three, but it was with a defensive effort and solid play in the end that allowed MSU to leave with a win.
The defense kept the Rebels off-tempo for most of the forth and fifth sets as Ole Miss hit .051 and .087 clips, respectively. Despite a lead in kills, 31 attack errors and 11 serve errors proved to be the Rebels’ Achilles heel.
“We knew their hitters’ tendencies, and we did a nice job playing the kind of defense we wanted to,” Hazelwood said.
On Sunday against Arkansas, the Bulldogs entered with high hopes but walked away with a tough 1-3 loss, (20-25, 19-25, 25-23, 24-26).
Despite a career-high 19 kills from sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Rance, Arkansas led the match in kills, 71-54, with four players in double-digits.
Assistant coach Brandon Higa praised Rance for her ability to handle anything thrown at her, but the team was unable to adjust defensively until it was too late.
“Their hitters hit smart, and they hit in a way we hadn’t really seen, and it took a while for us to adjust,” he said.
The first set showcased 15 tie-scores with only two lead changes as the Razorbacks fought off MSU with a 5-0 run to take the set. The Bulldogs jumped to a quick lead in the second with a 4-2 start, but Arkansas would come back to win as they took the lead at 13-12 and didn’t look back.
The third showcased an impressive comeback for MSU as Arkansas rocketed to a 7-0 spread, but the Bulldogs took the lead at 22-21 and took three of the next five points to win the set. The fourth set proved to be a heart-breaker with 15 tie-scores and eight lead changes as the score was tied 24-24, but the Razorbacks took the last two points to capture the win.
Assistant coach Lindi Bankowski said the team struggled going up and down, but in the end, could not pull out a victory.
“We finally picked it up in the end but when it came down to it, we couldn’t put away the match point,” she said.