The Mississippi State volleyball team earned its fourth conference win of the season Wednesday night, defeating Ole Miss 3-1.
MSU has now won six straight matches against the Lady Rebels (12-9, 4-7), and Bulldogs head coach Tina Seals remains undefeated against in-state rivals in her tenure.
“Staying undefeated against Mississippi teams just shows that the girls have a lot of pride in MSU volleyball,” Seals said. “Against the in-state teams, it seems our girls just come out more focused, and they strive even harder to keep that record alive.”
The Bulldogs defeated the Lady Rebels in scores of 29-31, 30-15, 30-27 and 30-17. Five lead changes and 10 ties weren’t enough to give the Bulldogs the opening-game victory.
“Ole Miss did a great job coming out and taking us out of our tempo,” Seals said. “Once we got past our slow start in game one, our team did a good job of serving tough and our serve reception was good as well.”
After an awkward game one-the first game Ole Miss has taken from MSU since 2004-the Bulldogs settled back into their tempo and dominated the Lady Rebs in the rest of the match.
Through games two through four, MSU allowed only three tie scores and one lead change en route to claiming the final three games.
“We were able to work through the loss and gain our tempo back in games two through four,” Seals said. “We had great serve reception by Megan Lukasek, and our blocking improved. Martina Gregusova, Jamie Joyner and Orshi Kriegel did a nice job, too.”
Junior libero Megan Lukasek led the Maroon and White in digs, with 15 on the evening.
The recent emergence of freshman outside hitter Martina Gregusova has contributed to the Bulldogs’ 3-1 record in their last four matches.
Gregusova was named SEC Freshman of the Week Tuesday due to her 33-kill weekend. Gregusova chalked up 19 kills on the night on a .324 hitting percentage. She also pitched in with 12 digs, making her second on the team behind Lukasek.
“Martina is such a dominant hitter that she is becoming a go-to player,” Seals said. “When we give her the ball and she handles it well, it takes pressure off us, and we can do other things with other hitters.”
Senior outside hitter Orshi Kriegel also recorded a double-double Wednesday night, tallying 16 kills on a .343 hitting percentage and 10 digs.
Junior opposite hitter Jamie Joyner finished 2 digs short of her second career double-double, as she marked up 13 kills and 8 digs on a .346 night.
MSU continues playing on its Southeastern Conference slate Sunday afternoon as the Alabama Crimson Tide comes to pay a visit.
The Tide swept the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 15, so the Maroon and White will look for revenge.
“Alabama has won their last six in a row, so they’re playing at the top of their game,” Seals said. “I feel like it’s going to be a great match. In our first match against them, our serve reception broke down, and since we’ve improved in that area, we should put up a better match against them.”