The Mississippi State volleyball team left Lake Charles, La., Saturday with very different tournament results than it experienced just
two weeks ago.
The Bulldogs (3-4), after beginning the season with a 2-1 outing in the MSU Classic, dropped three contests in the 2008 McNeese State
Cowgirl Invitational.
“We had a few bright spots, mainly with the play of our new players,” fifth-year MSU head coach Tina Seals said. “But we had much higher expectations going into the weekend. We’re still looking for the players that can step up and play with the consistency that you’ve got to have to compete successfully.”
Mississippi State’s first match of the tournament pitted the Bulldogs against in-state rival Southern Mississippi, which downed State by a 3-1 score. The Golden Eagles (6-0), who went on to win the tournament Saturday, defeated the Bulldogs in scores of 25-19, 13-25, 25-23 and 25-22. The match marked the first non-shutout contest MSU has experienced so far this season, as well as the breaking of a three-match win streak the Bulldogs previously held over USM.
Bulldog offensive leaders Cristina Jucan and Ioana Demian tallied 13 kills each in the loss to Southern Miss.
Tournament host McNeese State then downed the Bulldogs in Friday’s thrilling nightcap by a score of 3-2. The Cowgirls defeated the Bulldogs in scores of 27-25, 25-18, 26-24,
25-13 and 15-8.
Jucan and Demian led the Bulldog offense statistically once again, though the Bulldog comeback in the third set was led at times by a rotation featuring four freshmen on the court.
After an emotional end to the Bulldogs’ Friday night, the team rebounded Saturday with a 3-0 blanking of the winless Grambling State by scores of 25-21, 26-24 and 25-17.
Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Newsome led the Bulldogs in the short contest with six kills, followed by Demian and freshman Faith Steinwedell with five each.
As expected, MSU faced an opponent that wasn’t originally slated to participate in the invitational for the Bulldogs’ tournament finale. That opponent was Nicholls State, which replaced Louisiana-Lafayette as a result of Hurricane Gustav.
As it had just 24 hours before, MSU battled to the very end in a losing effort, falling to NSU in scores of 25-22, 18-25, 27-25, 22-25 and 13-15.
Demian and Newsome once again paced the Maroon and White offense with 17 and 13 kills, respectively.
“Our results didn’t turn out the way we wanted them to,” Newsome said following the tournament. “We always want to win but we are still building on our team chemistry and trying to keep a positive attitude as we get ready for
this weekend.”
Demian represented the Bulldogs on the Invitational All-Tournament Team, finishing the weekend with 49 kills, 33 digs and seven service aces. She is now tied with fellow Romanian Cristina Jucan for most kills on the team with 73.
The main thing that stuck out from the tournament in Seals’ mind was the team’s errors. She said the errors had to be corrected in order for the team to succeed.
“We’re just so young that it’s just a growing phase right now,” Seals said.
The Bulldogs will now look to rebound from a disappointing weekend and turn their attention to a contest against Jackson State tonight, followed by the Bulldog Club Invitational, which will welcome Centenary, Central Arkansas and Memphis to Starkville.
“We’ll get busy this week and try to improve on some areas we didn’t do too well on,” Seals said.
The tournament will be held in the Humphrey Coliseum instead of the volleyball squad’s usual Newell-Grissom site due to Saturday’s game-day parking situation predicted for the MSU football game
against Auburn.