The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs lost two matches Friday and Sunday, making their flickering light of postseason hopes a little bit dimmer.
The Bulldogs (16-12, 7-11) dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Auburn Friday night and got shut out by the No. 7 Florida Gators 3-0 on Sunday.
Auburn (13-16, 5-13) dominated MSU early on, taking the first game of the match 30-18.
MSU battled back, however, and the two squads exchanged game wins over the next three games, tying the score at 2-2. MSU won the second game 30-23, Auburn took the third 33-31 and MSU won the fourth 30-19.
Auburn went on to win game five 15-12.
For the first time in seven matches, freshman standout Martina Gregusova was not the team’s lone leader in kills.
Though Gregusova tallied an impressive 22-kill mark, she was matched by senior Orshi Kriegel, who also had a 22-kill effort.
Kriegel also led the team with 18 digs.
Junior setter Eva Kriegel contributed with 53 assists and 9 kills.
“The loss to Auburn was especially tough,” MSU head coach Tina Seals said. “It was a hard-fought five-gamer in which our team played well together. We just couldn’t pull it out.”
Seals also added that perhaps luck was not on the team’s side for the road trip, either.
“We were very unfortunate that morning,” Seal said. “Ioana [Demian] fell down the stairs at the dorm and got hurt before we left, and so we had to alter our lineups. That knocked us out of our system. Cristina (Jucan) stepped in into the middle, and we had to get used to that but we couldn’t pull it out.”
Following the five-game nail-biter, MSU not only battled the seventh-ranked team in the nation, but also fatigue Sunday, as Florida (24-2, 17-1) overtook the Bulldogs in three games.
MSU never hit the 20-point mark in any of the three games, as the Gators dominated the Bulldogs by scores of 30-14, 30-15 and 30-17.
The Bulldogs hit a dismal .082 on the afternoon and was led by senior outside hitter Orshi Kriegel with eight kills.
Florida held Martina Gregusova to only seven kills on a .000 hitting performance.
Eva Kriegel contributed with a double-double on the day, tallying 24 assists and 11 digs.
“Florida is a very elite team,” Seals said, “and with us not being at our top game, that is a disadvantage already. They were just a better team all around, and they definitely deserve their ranking.”
The Bulldogs have two matches remaining on the year.
The Dawgs will need to win both matches to even be considered for an NCAA tournament bid.
Currently ranked eighth in the SEC, MSU will face LSU (23-4, 15-3) and Arkansas (16-10, 9-9) Friday and Sunday at the Newell-Grissom Building.