Mississippi State Volleyball defeated in-state rival Ole Miss in Oxford this weekend. This win gives MSU head coach David McFatrich eleven wins this season, in comparison to former MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood who only won seven games last season.

This was MSU’s ninth sweep of the season, and their first SEC win of the year. 

The Bulldogs started  the match with a 25-17 victory in the first set. MSU jumped out early, taking a 17-7 lead, but Ole Miss would then go on a five-point run to close the gap to 12-17 before MSU called a timeout. After the timeout, the Bulldogs would finish out the set on an 8-5 run. 

The second set ended up being much closer. MSU separated in the middle of the set, going up 10-16. However, the Rebels would rally and score five straight to make it a 23-23 game before MSU closed out the game with back to back points.

Now up 2-0, all the Bulldogs had to do was close out this final set to sweep their archrivals up north. They would go on to do this by way of a 25-18 victory. It was a neck and neck set with the score being tied 12-12 at one point. However, the Bulldogs would pull away, jumping out to a 23-17 lead before closing out the game. 

MSU was led on offense by senior Alex Warren, who had 13 kills in the match. On defense, sophomore Peyton Harris led the Bulldogs with eight digs. Warren has 141 kills on the season, good for second best on the team. Junior Evie Grace Singleton led the Bulldogs with 164 kills. On defense, Harris leads MSU in 187 digs. The next closest on the team is Evie Grace Singleton with 89. 

“That was an unbelievable win for our girls, our staff and the entire Mississippi State University family,” Coach McFatrich said. “We played true Bulldog volleyball from start to finish and I could not be more proud of this team”

MSU is now 11-4 in the overall season and 1-1 in SEC play. Their next game will be against the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky on Oct. 2. After that, the Bulldogs will return home to play South Carolina on Oct. 4.