Hurricane Gustav may have shaken things up a bit regarding the Mississippi State volleyball team’s plans this weekend.
Slated to play in the McNeese State Cowgirl Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday, the Bulldogs (2-1) may be forced to make some last-minute adjustments in preparing for their opposition in the tournament.
According to a release by the Southland Conference on Aug. 31, the McNeese State volleyball team was sent to Natchitoches, La., to ride out Gustav on the campus of Northwestern State.
The article said the Cowgirl volleyball team expected to be back on campus in time for the tournament.
“We’re waiting to see what’s going on with the tournament in regards to the weather,” said fifth-year MSU head coach Tina Seals. “Some teams have dropped out, but we’re waiting to see who’s going to be there.”
Before the storm became an issue, Mississippi State was scheduled to take on in-state rival Southern Mississippi (3-0) in an 11:30 a.m. contest Friday, followed by a match against host team McNeese State in a 7 p.m. match that same evening.
Seals said she expects both of those teams to remain in the tournament.
Saturday will bring two more opponents against the Bulldogs. MSU will take on Grambling State in a 1:30 p.m. meeting before dueling Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m.
Seals said she thought that Louisiana-Lafayette might drop out of the tournament due to the hurricane; She added several other teams were attempting to get into the tournament as replacements.
Despite whom the Bulldogs face in the tournament, the team will be looking to build on the foundation laid last weekend in the MSU Classic in Starkville.
The Bulldogs took matches from Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Troy, but lost to Colorado in the tournament’s finale, all by scores of 3-0.
MSU headed into the Classic looking for more than victories, however. And the team feels it drew a lot from its first tournament experience of the season.
“We were successful because we started building team chemistry,” said sophomore defensive specialist Kayla Woodard. “Though we came out with a loss, it still felt OK because we learned a lot.”
Woodard played all three matches for MSU as the team’s libero – the first new face in the position in five seasons. She tallied 30 digs on the weekend, which leads the team.
MSU sent two players to the MSU Classic All-Tournament Team: senior outside hitter Cristina Jucan and junior outside hitter Ioana Demian.
Jucan tallied 33 kills on the tournament, with a 3.67 kills-per-set average. The stat put her at fourth-best in the SEC for the weekend.
Demian was second on the team with 19 blocks and 24 kills on the weekend.
She said she was satisfied with the team’s performance over the weekend, but saw things she could work on individually in her game.
Several times throughout the tournament last weekend, the Bulldogs fell behind their opposition but fought back to tie or reclaim the lead. Demian said the team had worked on that in the pre-season.
“We have special drills in which we’re not supposed to allow more than two points in a row, among other things,” Demian said. “We saw good results this weekend of our come-from-behind drills.”
Two MSU freshmen started in all three matches of the tournament: opposite hitter Faith Steinwedell and middle hitter Mandy Mellencamp.
Seals said the team’s showing in the MSU Classic was satisfactory, and that she expects the team to keep building on the foundation lain.
“Last weekend, we basically had a brand-new team on the court,” Seals said. “We got some very important experience last weekend we will be able to use from here on out.”