“We want to beat Ole Miss more than anyone.”
Those were words spoken by MSU sophomore volleyball player Erin Seago, who notched 10 kills and three assisted blocks in a 3-0 thrashing of the Ole Miss Rebels Wednesday night in the Newell-Grissom Building.
The Bulldogs improved to 11-7 overall with the win, with a 2-6 Southeastern Conference record.
With the victory, the Dawgs also managed to remain in reachable distance in qualifying for the SEC Tournament, which takes the eight best SEC teams out of the total 11. MSU is currently ranked ninth and is a half game behind eighth place Georgia.
“Ole Miss is always a big rival. Our girls know that, and their girls know that as well,” said MSU head coach Tina Seals, who remains unbeaten against in-state rivals. We are just very excited to take the match tonight. It was a good win and an important win for our team. We’ve had our struggles lately, but it was good to get back home and have some success against our rival.”
The VolleyDawgs have taken it upon themselves to create a title for the intrastate rivalries they have with Southern Mississippi and Ole Miss. They call it the “Mississippi State Championship.”
The championship provided motivation for the girls to defeat Ole Miss, especially after opening the 2005 season with a 3-0 win over Southern Miss.
The team drew additional motivation from dedicating the match to senior defensive specialist Jamie Cross, who missed the game due to illness.
Cross is a native of Southaven, Miss., and the team believes that the game would have meant a lot to her, being a Mississippi resident. Cross was taken to the emergency room with migraine headaches on the night prior to the match, but was able to attend the match momentarily.
Senior opposite hitter Kelly Willinger also sat out for Wednesday’s volleyball version of the Egg Bowl, as she is still recovering from knee surgery. Mississippi State blanked Ole Miss in the two teams’ first pairing of the season, taking the three games by scores of 30-23, 30-24, and 30-25.
The Bulldogs trailed early in the first game, but an Erin Seago kill tied the score at three, and a Rebel blocking error gave the Dawgs a permanent lead in game one.
MSU led by as much as six in the opening act. Senior outside hitter Orshi Kriegel put the game away with a pair of kills.
MSU dominated the second game, racing to a 6-2 lead on a Jamie Joyner kill. Ole Miss never closed the gap to less than two in the second game, as the Dawgs went on to take the game 30-24.
Opening the third game with a 6-0 run, MSU continued to push the Lady Rebs around. State then eventually led 8-3, hitting at a match-best .270 average to defeat the Rebels 30-25.
Rachel Cooper once again paced the Bulldogs, tallying 11 kills. With her 10, Seago was second. Orshi Kriegel, Nicole Palazzo and Jamie Joyner each
had seven kills. Sophomore libero Megan Lukasek led the Dawgs on defense with14 digs.
MSU middle blockers Erin Seago and Nicole Palazzo, a sophomore and freshman respectively, combined for 17 kills, having two of the best performances MSU middles have seen all year.
“Since the beginning of the season,” Palazzo said, “we’ve been working on trying to get the middles involved, so the blocking isn’t always put on [Rachel] Cooper or Orshi [Kriegel]. We’re just starting to come together as an entire team, and our passing is starting to improve.”
Freshman Lialah Putman is MSU’s other Mississippi native, along with Cross. Putman hails from Olive Branch, Miss., where she has lived since age 11. She claims that she comes from an Ole Miss background.
“My family is really a big Ole Miss family,” Putman said. “My dad and some other of my relatives went there. My great grandfather actually came to Mississippi State, but I didn’t know that until I decided to come here. My family was always pretty big into Ole Miss football.
Putman also had a little extra incentive to strive for a strong performance
Wednesday night. She tallied three service aces and three digs as a reserve player in the win.
“[Beating Ole Miss] means a little something extra to me for one reason,” she said. “I sent my [recruiting] stuff out to both Mississippi State and Ole Miss, and Ole Miss didn’t really have time for me or anything. It was kind of nice to show them what they’re missing out on.”
Nikki Palazzo realizes how big the Bulldog-Rebel rivalry is, and appreciates the crowd’s enthusiasm.
“When we get a crowd chanting ‘Go State’ or ‘Maroon and White’ or anything like that, especially at the end of games, it helps us stay focused and it helps us to pull out the wins. Just knowing that we have the support of our peers motivates us a lot.”
MSU will travel to Auburn to take on the Tigers (7-10, 1-8 SEC) tonight. State has already defeated AU once this year, in a 3-0 victory at home on October 7.