Mississippi State volleyball opened the Jenny Hazelwood coaching era with a 3-0 win over Jackson State Friday, but lost two 3-1 matches to McNeese State and Arkansas-Little Rock, Saturday.
The JSU and UALR matches set the second and fifth-largest volleyball attendance at Newell-Grissom Building drawing 589 and 468 fans, respectively.
“We had two of our largest crowds ever at Newell-Grissom this weekend, and that’s something exciting that gives us a boost as we prepare for a tough SEC schedule,” Hazelwood said.
Against JSU, MSU came out flat only to rally through two impressive opening sets winning 25-16 and 25-10, respectively. The third set proved to be more of a challenge, but the Lady Bulldogs stuck out a 25-19 final set. Senior outside hitter Ioana Demian led state with 11 kills and nine digs.
State found much stouter competition Saturday and lost to eventual tournament champions McNeese State, after winning the first set 19-25. The final three sets were highly contested scoring 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18. The Cowgirls relied on the 21-kill-performance from senior outside hitter Chanel Tyler to pull out the victory 3-1.
To close out play, UALR edged State in the first two sets (25-21, 25-20) to go into the halftime break. State found a groove and won the third set (21-25). In the final set, State had a set point, but lost the final four points to lose (27-25).
Hazelwood said she felt at times team leaders Newsome, Demian and Gray were trying too hard. She said she thinks their hard work is good for the team, and has faith that any problems they are having with in-game cohesion will be sorted out before SEC matches start.
Newsom was named to the All-Tournament team, with a team-best 33 kills and 13 total blocks.
Hazelwood said the athleticism is on par, but the unity and consistency will come as the season bears on.
“It’s all part of the growing process,” said the first-year coach following Saturday’s finale. “We are learning and improving as we go.”
Among the 489 fans in the stands Saturday was head football coach Dan Mullen, his wife Megan and young son Canon. He even decided to invite his football team and staff.
“Our squad really appreciated Dan having the team come out here tonight to support their fellow student athletes,” Hazelwood said. “That is what we want to be about as an athletic department that we are a family who is there for one another.”