In 1999 the Southeastern Conference changed the format of its postseason volleyball tournament to include the top eight teams of the league, rather than the full 11 that compete in SEC volleyball. Since 1999, MSU has not reached the tournament. Until now.
In Tina Seals’ second year as Bulldog volleyball head coach, State broke the dry spell and clinched the seventh-seed in the 2005 SEC Tournament held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which begins today.
“These girls, especially the seniors, have been so dedicated and have worked so hard that I’m really excited for them to see such an accomplishment,” Seals said. “I think it’s a great way to end our season. It’s an award to this team that’s well deserved.”
The championship match of the tournament will be broadcasted by FOX Sports Net-South by SEC TV Sunday at 2:30 pm.
Mississippi State (15-11, 6-10 SEC) opens play Friday at 5 p.m. against the second-seeded Tennessee Lady Volunteers (19-7, 13-3 SEC), the defending SEC Tournament champions. MSU is 0-1 against UT this year, losing in Knoxville, Tenn., 3-0.
“We will make sure our focus is on Tennessee first because that’s the most important thing right now,” Seals said. “We’ll break down film, give our girls a scouting report, and in practice we’ll try and simulate some things Tennessee does to get our girls focused on the game.”
If the Bulldogs can upset the Lady Vols, the road to the championship looks promising. The winner of the Dawgs-Vols match will face either third-seed LSU or sixth seed Alabama. State defeated LSU once this season at home 3-1 and lost to Alabama in five games at home after leading 2-0.
On the other side of the bracket, first seed Florida takes on eighth seed Georgia, with the winner of that match facing the victor of fourth seed Arkansas and fifth seed Kentucky.
The three teams failing to make the tournament cut this year are South Carolina, Auburn and Ole Miss. Vanderbilt is the lone SEC school that does not compete in volleyball.
Junior Orshi Kriegel played for a disappointed Bulldog squad last year, one that didn’t quite make the cut.
“We wanted to go to the SEC Tournament last year,” Kriegel said. “But we were very disappointed when we didn’t. It came down to one match against Arkansas, and we didn’t quite make it. Now we are there, and we are excited to be playing.”
With all the excitement and the satisfaction of making it into the tournament, Kriegel and the rest of the Bulldogs are wary not to fall into a hole of complacency.
“We have to be focused,” Kriegel said. “But it will be fun no matter what happens. We’re going in there thinking that we can’t lose; we can just win. Maybe we can surprise Tennessee. I can imagine that.”