The Mississippi State volleyball team lost its sixth and seventh consecutive matches this weekend, dropping road decisions to the 19th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats and 16th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.
MSU looked to get back to the winning side of things Friday night against Kentucky, an opponent the Bulldogs upset at Humphrey Coliseum earlier this year. In that contest, State was able to dictate the tempo and swept the Wildcats 3-0. Friday, however, the tables were turned. Kentucky was able to out-hit MSU, and the Wildcats finished with a 45-31 advantage in kills. UK was even more impressive at the net, out-blocking the Bulldogs 13-7. Junior right-side hitter Faith Steinwedell led State with 10 kills, junior libero Hillary Parker paced the defense with nine digs and senior middle blocker Hannah Wilkinson led the team with six blocks.
Although MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood admitted she was pleased about the tempo of Friday night’s game, she said State had one of its worst efforts in the year in the passing department.
“We just couldn’t pass,” Hazelwood said. “I felt good about how we executed to slow them down, but we just couldn’t do a lot on our side from an offensive standpoint.”
After being defeated at the hands of Kentucky, MSU looked to attain its first win in three weeks as it traveled to Knoxville to take on the Lady Volunteers.
In its first matchup of the year in Starkville, Tennessee was able to overcome hitting under the .200 mark to sweep MSU. Sunday in Knoxville, the Bulldogs were able to take a set from the Volunteers but were unable to maintain any momentum as Tennessee took the match three sets to one to remain undefeated at home in the 2011 season. Senior outside-hitter Caitlin Rance had a match-high 17 kills, but State was dominated by the Vols in overall kills 62-43. Hannah Wilkinson had a match-high six blocks, and Faith Steinwedell added eight kills and eight digs. 
After the match, Hazelwood, who is in her third year at the helm at MSU, praised the resiliency of her team.
“In the first set, we went down 7-1 early, then we came back and lost a close one, then took the second set,” Hazelwood explained. “They’re a very, very well-coached team. They came out, made some adjustments and we couldn’t get our middle going. I still think we had a pretty good game plan, and at times I think we were pretty solid in executing it.”
Sunday’s loss to Tennessee dropped the Bulldogs’ overall record to 10-15 for the season, and 5-11 in SEC play. State will complete a four-game road trip this coming weekend when it travels to Athens Friday to take on the Georgia Bulldogs and Auburn Sunday to play the Auburn Tigers. The game against Auburn will be televised by Fox Sports South, and with just four games remaining in the 2011 regular season, Hazelwood said she thinks finishing the season on a positive note is vital for MSU.
“I think we played better this weekend than we did last weekend,” she said.