The Maroon Classic did not go as planned for the Mississippi State volleyball team as the host Bulldogs fell to 1-2 on the season after suffering losses to Southern Illinois and Tennessee-Martin before rebounding with a dominating win against Southeastern Louisiana. 
Playing in front of a school record crowd of 3,024 fans on Friday night in the Newell-Grissom Building, the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought match to the Salukis of Southern Illinois. After taking a 2-1 lead, the Bulldogs ended up losing 25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15 as they could not serve well enough to earn an opening-day victory.
 ”I think if we clean up one thing from Friday night, and that’s our serves, we win that match,” said MSU coach Jenny Hazelwood.
As would be the case all weekend, the Bulldogs were led by senior co-captain and outside hitter Caitlin Rance, who notched a double-double with 14 kills and 18 digs. Freshman middle blocker Lainey Wyman played well in her first match as a Bulldog as she recorded nine kills and eight digs.
In the Bulldogs first game Saturday, they fell in four sets, 22-25, 25-16, 20-25, 23-25, to a Tennessee-Martin team that was picked to finish toward the bottom of the Ohio Valley Conference but would end up winning the Maroon Classic.
Hazelwood, who was disappointed in the team’s effort, told the Starkville Daily Newssome of the players have yet to realize what it takes to win on the college level.
“Some of the girls just don’t understand that’s college volleyball,” Hazelwood said. “It’s SEC volleyball for sure, but it’s college volleyball, but no matter what level you’re at, if a team plays with a lot of heart, they can out-play you. I want seven people to play with the heart that you’ve got to have.”
Rance turned in another strong performance as she recorded 16 kills and 10 digs to notch her second double-double of the Maroon Classic and junior co-captain Faith Steinwedell had a career best 20 digs, but the team was inconsistent as a whole.
The Bulldogs fared far better in their second game Saturday as they defeated Southeastern Louisiana in straight sets, 25-10, 25-9, 26-24.
“Our mentality was a lot better,” said MSU senior Caitlin Rance. “We came in saying that nothing was going to hit the ground, and we were going to go all out.”
Hazelwood agreed as she said the team showed far more grit and desire against Southeastern Louisiana than it did in the loss to Tennessee-Martin.
“All around we played at a much higher level tonight,” Hazelwood said. “The nicest things I saw in that match were hustle and heart.”
The Bulldogs were once again lead by Rance who paced the team with 14 kills and 18 digs and would be named to the All-Tournament team. Wyman was solid once again, and sophomore setter Paris Perret played her best match of the tournament as the Bulldogs were far better offensively.
Although the weekend was certainly disappointing, Steinwedell said there were some positives to take away from the weekend as they prepare to travel to California to compete in the Community Bankers Classic Sept. 2-3 at the University of the Pacific.
When asked about the impressive performances of several MSU freshmen, Steinwedell was visibly impressed.
“They did not play scared at all. They came out like they have been here years,” Steinwedell said. “My hat’s off to that. That’s definitely a hard position to come into, and they did amazing. I’m proud of them.”