Playing at home in front of the largest crowd this season, the Mississippi State University Bulldogs took the floor Wednesday as they hosted their bitter in-state rival Ole Miss but fell three sets to one.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start by dropping the first set to the Rebels 25-20.  The team would quickly bounce back though as it took the second set 25-20 to even the match up at 1-1, but from then on, the Bulldogs would eventually drop the next two sets and fall to the Rebels in a four-set match.
After losing the tough game, head coach Jenny Hazelwood said she thought the team made a lot of costly errors.
“I felt like from the beginning we were giving up a lot of points,” Hazelwood said.  “We didn’t make them earn a ton of the points they had.  We weren’t taking care of the ball, and I felt like they out-hustled us.”   
Though it was not the outcome the team hoped for, there were still a lot of positives to take away from this loss.  The team received good play from freshmen Kimmy Gardiner and Suzanne Horner.  Gardiner led the team with 17 kills, and Horner led with 26 assists.  Defensively, the team received good play from sophomores Roxanne McVey and Alex Warren.  McVey led the way with 21 digs and Warren contributed four of MSU’s five blocks.
Even with a good individual performance, Gardiner said it is still a team effort.
“As a team, I feel we did well in some parts and didn’t in others, but it’s a total team thing to lose and to win, so it’s hard,” she said.  
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs drew in the second-largest crowd in Newell-Grissom history with 1,633 fans in attendance.
McVey said it was the best atmosphere she has played in since being at MSU.
“The atmosphere was awesome here,” she said.  “We really appreciate all the fans that could get out and make it to support us because that’s what keeps us going.”
McVey also said she and the team hope to see another packed crowd Friday as they host Texas A&M at 7 p.m. in Newell-Grissom.  
The Bulldogs have faced the Aggies once already this season in which they surrendered a loss, but Hazelwood said she seeks different results in Friday’s match.
“Texas A&M is a good team.  Blocking and defensively we’ve got to be really solid, and if we do that, we can definitely have a good match against them,” Hazelwood said.