The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs will spend Halloween on the road, as they are set to take on the Auburn Tigers (5-18, 0-12 SEC) tonight in a 6 p.m. meeting.
The match will be a winnable one for the Bulldogs, who have been struggling as of late.
The Tigers have lost 13 straight matches entering tonight’s contest, including a 3-2 loss to MSU in Starkville on Sept. 28. With the win in September, the Bulldogs have now won the last three meetings between the two schools and 10 of the last 17.
The Bulldogs will also be looking for a much-needed win. The MSU offense has been struggling all year, and the loss of freshman hitter Faith Steinwedell last weekend didn’t help matters. Fifth-year MSU head coach Tina Seals realized how much was lost with Steinwedell’s injury.
“Faith didn’t only make an impact in attacking, but also in digs, blocking and setting,” Seals said after last Sunday’s loss to Tennessee. “It’s not like we lost one starter, but several.”
The injury to Steinwedell likely couldn’t have come at a worse time in the schedule.
Tonight’s match against Auburn is the Bulldogs’ fourth match in a seven-day span, allowing virtually no time to effectively practice with a new rotation.
Freshman hitter Mandy Mellencamp is the team’s only freshman to have started every match this season.
“We just have to practice hard and get in work every minute we can,” Mellencamp said.
Junior Ioana Demian said every player is doing her job.
“I don’t see any problem with [the other freshmen] stepping in and playing, because they’re all doing a good job,” she said.
Tonight’s match looks to be winnable for MSU, but if the previous match was any indication, it will be close.
The Bulldogs came out solidly against the Tigers, nabbing the first two sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-18. However, Auburn made some key adjustments at intermission and won the next two by 25-19 and 25-18 margins. MSU bounced back, however, and won the fifth set in a match for the first and only time on the season by a 15-13 score.
“With so many young players on the court for both teams, we knew this would be an interesting match,” Seals said after the first match against Auburn. “We played very well early in the match and got on a roll in winning the first two sets. We knew Auburn wouldn’t just roll over, and they picked up their level of play after the break to force a fifth set.”
A big theme of tonight’s match will be the two teams’ youth, as the Bulldogs and Tigers will combine to feature 15 freshmen on their rosters, and only two seniors.
Seals said youth cannot be a concern for the team now, though.
“We just have to grow up faster,” Seals said last weekend. “We’ve been in every match and had chances to win. We’ve been improving. And we have to keep doing that.”