After a disappointing weekend in Lake Charles, La., the Mississippi State volleyball team bounced back Tuesday night with a victory over in-state rival Jackson State. The Bulldogs (4-4) now turn their attention to their three-match weekend in the MSU Bulldog Club Invitational, which will welcome Centenary (La.), Central Arkansas and Memphis.
Senior outside hitter Ioana Demian, of Baia Mare, Romania, paced the Bulldogs in their 3-0 shutout victory on the road against the Tigers (0-8) Tuesday.
Demian, who has proven to be MSU’s most consistent offensive performer on the season to date, finished the match against JSU with 16 kills and 11 digs.
Demian’s fellow Romanian and team offensive leader Cristina Jucan, a senior, hit at a remarkable .460 clip on the contest and finished
with nine kills.
Mississippi State fifth-year head coach Tina Seals was pleased with the way the team was able to rebound from the disappointing weekend.
“We were able to capitalize and not make mistakes when we needed points,” Seals said. “We got better each set.”
Jackson State gave MSU a scare in the first set, trading the lead several times before the Bulldogs finally pulled out the 27-25 win.
The Bulldogs put the Tigers away fairly easily in the second set, winning 25-18. In the third, MSU mounted a big lead on JSU, then held off a Tiger comeback to take the 25-21 victory for a 3-0 shutout win.
Freshman setter Grace Hoyt, of Suwanee, Ga., saw action in Tuesday’s game and impressed Coach Seals with her
performance.
A part of a nine-player freshman class, Hoyt has seen action in five matches on the season so far.
“[Getting to play is] really exciting and a lot of fun,” Hoyt said. “It was nerve-racking at first, but it is definitely a lot of fun.”
Seals said she was impressed with the team’s setting performances overall.
Seals said the Bulldogs’ starting setter and team captain, junior Dorey Gray, out of Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., also had a solid game against the Tigers.
“It was good, so we could prove to ourselves that we were better than we performed last weekend,” Gray said. “We took last weekend as a learning experience. It was actually a good thing it happened so early,because we took those things and improved upon them.”
MSU now looks to use the win over the Tigers as a momentum-builder heading into this weekend’s Bulldog Club Invitational.
The Invitational will be held in Humphrey Coliseum, marking the first time the volleyball team has held a home contest there since 2002.
The tournament will welcome Centenary College (2-6), Central Arkansas (4-2) and Memphis (4-3) to tussle with the Bulldogs.
The tournament will take place over today and early tomorrow, so fans can still attend the MSU-Auburn football game.
MSU will take on Centenary at 12:30 p.m. today, followed by a 7 p.m. contest against Central Arkansas.
The Bulldogs will close out tournament play with a 1:30 p.m. match against Memphis tomorrow.
Seals said the main thing the team will work on in practice this week is striving toward making less errors on the court.
“We are going to work on being able to avoid errors during crucial parts of the game and to be aggressive,” Seals said.
With a current .500 record for the season, the Bulldogs have looked to have several positives and negatives at different parts of the season already.
With a team loaded with nine freshmen, Gray said the team is trying not to attribute its shortcomings to youth.