Mississippi State puts the finishing touches on its early-season tournament slate this weekend in New Orleans when the Bulldogs compete in the Wyndham-Metairie Classic hosted by the University of New Orleans. State enters the week with a 7-4 worksheet, two wins away from surpassing the team’s 2001 season win total.
The Bulldogs take on the Mercer Bears (5-6) at 5 p.m. today in the opening match of the two-day, round-robin event. State then opens the Saturday schedule with a 10 a.m. match against the Centenary College Ladies (6-10), coached by former Bulldog volleyball standout Jenny Hazelwood, and then battles the host University of New Orleans Privateers (3-7) at 7 p.m. in the event’s final match.
MSU is making its fifth tournament trip to the Crescent City with this weekend’s appearance in the Wyndham-Metairie Classic. State is 7-6 in previous visits in 1978, 1990, 1991 and 1993.
The Bulldogs are 5-6 all-time against this weekend’s foes–1-0 vs. Centenary (2000), 1-0 vs. Atlantic-Sun Conference member Mercer (1987) and 3-6 vs. Sun Belt Conference entry New Orleans (1978-1993).
Bulldog head coach Brenda Bowlin is 1-0 lifetime against Centenary and is coaching opposite both Mercer and New Orleans for the first time.
Mississippi State had its six-match win streak snapped last weekend in DeKalb, Ill., but earned a place in the NCAA record books during a 1-2 showing in the closely-contested Country Inns & Suites Classic hosted by Northern Illinois University.
State dropped its tourney opener to Conference USA power Saint Louis 3-1 (26-30, 30-16, 30-19, 23-30), earned a spot in the NCAA record books in a 3-2 loss to tournament host and eventual champion Northern Illinois (43-45, 20-30, 30-19, 30-24, 6-15), and then bested Wisconsin-Green Bay 3-1 (24-30, 30-28, 30-20, 30-24) to complete the weekend.
In five games NIU out-pointed State 133-129 in a thriller that easily set a scoring record for points in a game. The previous mark was 37 set by three teams last year, the first season of the NCAA’s 30-point scoring system. The game featured 25 ties and nine game-point opportunities for each team.
The Bulldogs and the Huskies combined for 262 points in the match, tying for the second-most points in an NCAA volleyball match, while the team match totals, 133 by NIU and 129 by MSU, ranked sixth and ninth respectively.
Senior outside hitter Misty Hubenthal registered her sixth and seventh double-doubles of the season and extended her string of double figure kill performances to all 11 matches.
Freshman outside hitter Rachel Cooper, one of two Illinois products on the MSU squad, likewise recorded a pair of double-doubles. She registered a career-high 22 kills in the two and a half hour marathon against Northern Illinois. Cooper garnered her second consecutive all-tournament team selection after piling up 49 kills, a team-best 42 digs and a .244 hitting percentage.
Junior opposite hitter Tanika Taylor totaled 20 digs against NIU, individual and team season-highs.
MSU opens its 20th season of SEC volleyball competition next weekend when MSU entertains a pair of Eastern Division rivals.
State hosts the Georgia Bulldogs Friday (Sept. 27) at 7 p.m. and the fifth-ranked Florida Gators Sunday (Sept. 29) at 2 p.m.
MSU plays nine of its scheduled 12 home volleyball matches at the Newell-Grissom Building.