The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs closed out its 2006 season Friday and Sunday, splitting a pair of matches against LSU and Arkansas.
Friday night, the LSU Tigers (24-5, 16-4) blanked MSU (17-13, 8-12) for the second time this season, beating the Bulldogs in games of 30-23, 30-28 and 30-27 to earn the season sweep.
Freshman outside hitter Martina Gregusova led the Bulldogs with her sixth double-double performance of the season, totaling 15 kills and 11 digs.
Junior setter Eva Kriegel also chalked up a double-double, putting up 31 assists and 10 digs in the contest.
LSU out-killed the Bulldogs 54-40 and out-hit them .268 to .216.
“We just couldn’t quite get over the hump in the LSU match,” third-year MSU head coach Tina Seals said. “We played good in the last two games but just couldn’t close it out.”
The Bulldogs bounced back Sunday afternoon, however, and blanked the Lady Razorbacks (16-12, 9-11) by scores of 30-22, 30-25 and 30-20.
The victory marks the first time in school history that the Bulldogs have beaten Arkansas.
“Our first-ever win against Arkansas proved that our girls have a lot of character,” Seals said. “The win is a huge milestone for us. I think our girls wanted to win the match for Orshi.
“We had a well-balanced attack. Our serve reception was good tonight, and our middles did a great job of moving the ball to the outside.”
Being the last match of the season, the volleyball staff honored lone senior outside hitter Orshi Kriegel of Jaszbereny, Hungary, prior to the contest.
Kriegel finished the Arkansas match one kill short of a double-double performance, but contributed to the Dawgs’ victory with nine kills and 16 digs.
She finished her career with the Maroon and White with 931 kills, 739 digs, 89 aces and 73 blocks.
“I was very nervous at the beginning of the game, and now I cannot find words to describe what this feels like,” said Krigel, the first-ever European MSU volleyball player. “I have so much pressure lifted off of me right now. I have enjoyed this season, and in the future this team will be great.”
Martina Gregusova once again led the MSU charge against the Lady Razorbacks, tallying 16 kills on a .394 offensive performance.
Springdale, Ark., native libero Jennifer Hauskey, who MSU uses primarily in a serving role, earned a career-high five service aces on the afternoon.
Hauskey has personal ties to the University of Arkansas, as her brother plays on the Razorback baseball team, and her mother is on the volleyball team staff.
With a 17-13 overall record, MSU completes its third consecutive winning season for the first time in school history.
This marks the first time in school history that the program has been able to achieve that task.
Seals has broken the school record for Southeastern Conference wins in each of her past two seasons as head coach.
She led the squad to the seventh seed in the SEC tournament last season, but with the abolishment of the tournament this year, Seals’ squad failed to qualify for postseason play.
“In my first year here, we shot for the SEC tournament and didn’t make it,” Seals said. “The next year, however, we did. We shot for postseason play this season, but didn’t make it, so I think that’s a good goal for us to set for ourselves next year.
“With the nucleus we have coming back, I think it’s a good possibility to achieve it,” she said.