Over the weekend, the Mississippi State volleyball team hosted the 2012 Maroon Classic. After losing two out of three matches in last year’s Maroon Classic, the girls had their eyes set on improving from last year’s disappointing tournament losses.
This year, MSU welcomed Kennesaw State, Jackson State and UL-Monroe to the Newell-Grissom building to begin the season. After winning against Jackson State in straight sets and beating UL-Monroe in four sets, the weekend closed with a loss to Kennesaw State in five sets.
Although the weekend ended with a hard-fought loss, there are a few things that stood out over the weekend that should help the team in the future.
This year’s freshman class has been put to the test early this season. Against Jackson State, MSU started three freshmen. Whereas senior Chanelle Baker was doing her best to start off her final season with high numbers, freshman Taylor Scott was impressing fans with her high level of play. After tying Chanelle Baker in number of kills against Jackson State, Scott said she is looking to create healthy competition between herself and Baker in order to encourage both players to do their best.
“I’m always trying to be the best. Hopefully I can get more kills than Chanelle in some matches this year,” Scott said.
Baker said she welcomes the competition with open arms.
“The competition is all in good fun. It’s only going to make us both play better,” Baker said. “I think (Taylor) is going to be an amazing player. I definitely see her being an All-SEC Freshman and maybe even an All-SEC player for years to come.”
Another standout factor over the weekend was the play of freshman, Sarah Nielsen. Nielsen tallied 35 kills over the weekend and is now second place overall on the team for kills behind Scott.
Also, freshman Roxanne McVey set a school record for most digs in a single match on Saturday with 42 digs, which earned her SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
The athleticism of these young players is highly impressive to not only fellow players, but to the fans, as well.
Michael Elliott, a sophomore mechanical engineering major said he enjoyed watching the match.
 ”(Scott) dominated. I don’t know much about volleyball, but her talent got me interested in coming to games.”
Finally, the tenacity of this year’s team is something to watch for in the future. Early in the match, junior Paris Perret was injured while trying to block a shot. Head coach Jenny Hazelwood said Perret’s play is key for the team’s success this season.
“I think on the block, Sarah (Nielson) hit her with the elbow,” Hazelwood said.
The injury did not stop Perret, as she finished the night with three kills, 42 assists and 14 digs.
Another example of the team’s tenacity came when State was trailing late in the fourth set against Kennesaw State. The team rallied to win the set by a score of 25-21, pushing the match into a fifth set. However, the team did not have enough to push past the Owls to win the match. The fifth set ended with a 15-11 defeat, and the Bulldogs ended the weekend with a 2-1 record.
One player who was missing this weekend was sophomore Lainey Wyman. Wyman was suspended this weekend for a violation of team rules according to Hazelwood. However, Wyman will return to the court this weekend when the Bulldogs play in the 2012 Luxe City Center Trojan Classic in Los Angeles, Calif. State has matches against Boston College on Friday, Aug. 21, and two matches on Saturday, Aug. 22, against No. 21 Northern Iowa and No. 5 USC.
Hazelwood said she knows the caliber of the teams State will be playing this weekend, so she is making sure the team is ready.
“It is going to be a really tough weekend. Our girls need to work hard in practice this week to get better for this weekend,” she said.