After a long and frustrating losing streak, the Lady Bulldog volleyball team finally made a statement to its in-state rival: “No Mas!”
For the first time since 2001, the Lady Dawgs beat the Mississippi Rebels Wednesday night in straight games thanks to focused team play and an excited home crowd.
“This was an exciting win for us,” said head coach Tina Seals. “It’s always great to beat your rival, plus to play good at home for your fans. The crowd was great tonight; they were really into the game.”
The two teams fought a hard opening game, each countering the other on a point-by-point basis. The Bulldogs proved to have the stronger resolve, though, as they took the game on a defensive block by Andrea Mead and Julie Hamilton. The 30-27 decision helped the Dawgs set the tone of the entire match.
In the second game, the Rebels came out flat and allowed the Bulldogs to cruise to a 14-point victory, 30-16.
After intermission the Rebels jumped out to an early lead on the Lady Dawgs. However the ladies in Maroon fought back and beat the Rebels by the final score of 30-26.
Freshman Jamie Joyner scored the game-winning point, notching her sixth kill in the game. Joyner finished the night with 14 kills and no errors. Her attack percentage was .609, and according to Seals, she has big expectations for her young left-handed star.
“That was an outstanding performance tonight by Jamie,” said Seals. “We’ve been waiting to see her have a breakout match like this.”
Joyner said the team was especially relaxed for the match, and that helped them to victory.
“It was awesome,” Joyner said. “We just had fun out there, played like a team and had fun.”
The match was a big momentum builder for the Lady Dawgs. According to junior hitter Rachel Cooper, this win was just what the team needed to pick its head up.
“Everyone was on their game tonight,” said Cooper, who moved into ninth on the school’s all-time kills list Wednesday. “Everyone hypes this game up so much, it was really important that we put our best foot forward, and we did.”
The win improves the Bulldogs’ record to 10-9, while surpassing last season’s conference win total with three wins in their first seven matches.