The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs will open their November schedule Friday and Sunday.
The Bulldogs (14-10, 5-9) will host the duo of South Carolina and Georgia over the weekend on Friday and Sunday respectively.
MSU spent a weekend on the road Oct. 13 and Oct. 15 as they took the Bulldogs and Gamecocks to five games each, defeating South Carolina but losing to Georgia.
The Bulldogs will tango with the Gamecocks of South Carolina (12-13, 5-9) Friday in a 7 p.m. match.
In State’s previous outing against the Gamecocks, freshman sensation Martina Gregusova impressed a regional television audience with 26 kills on a .370 hitting performance.
Orshi Kriegel also performed well, pitching in with a double-double.
Sunday afternoon will bring the Bulldogs of Georgia to MSU’s home court in a 1:30 p.m. showing. The last time UGA visited MSU, the game was postponed due to a power outage resulting from Hurricane Rita.
In this season’s first Bulldogs-Bulldogs match, Georgia edged Mississippi State by the score of 3-2, despite four State players with double-digit kills.
Junior setter Eva Kriegel was State’s lead performer in the match with a triple-double, marking 17 kills, 14 digs and 40 assists.
Her older sister Orshi Kriegel closely followed with a double-double, tallying 18 kills and 19 digs.
With the win in October, Georgia earned its 30th win of the All-Bulldog series, and leads MSU in the series by 23 matches.
Prior to the loss earlier this year, MSU had won its last three outings against UGA.
Currently, Mississippi State stands in fourth place in the SEC West division and seventh overall in the conference.
The SEC eliminated the 8-team postseason tournament format prior to the beginning of the season and opted to expand each team’s conference schedule.
As a result, the SEC regular season champion will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA 64-team tournament, and the rest will depend on conference standing.
“We have an opportunity this weekend to set a school record for SEC wins (seven) and to nail down a winning record for 2006,” head coach Tina Seals said. “I feel like the players are ready and look forward to the challenges that this weekend brings.”