The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs will continue their Southeastern Conference schedule this weekend as they face Kentucky and Tennessee at home. The match against Tennessee has been tabbed “SEC Match of the Week.”
MSU (10-2, 1-1 SEC) has not had a strong history against the Wildcats (8-2, 1-1 SEC) and Lady Volunteers (10-2, 1-1 SEC).
The Bulldogs have only won one match against Kentucky in the 32-game history between the two schools.
The last time MSU took a match from Kentucky came in 1994.
Tennessee holds the advantage in the UT-MSU series 29-6.
MSU’s last victory over Lady Vols took place in 1996. Meanwhile, over the course of three years, MSU hasn’t so much as taken a game from UT, losing 3-0 in every contest since 2003.
The Bulldogs will look to change that this weekend.
The best record that the Dawgs have ever compiled in conference play was last season’s 6-10 mark.
MSU finished last season seventh in the conference and lost to Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“Kentucky has had a great pre-conference season showing,” said Seals. “They were really competitive Sunday against LSU, and our game should be competitive against them.
“Tennessee went to the Final Four last season, so they will be tough. It is top-notch competition, but that’s what we want, and I think we’ll be ready for it.”
Junior outside hitter Cristina Jucan has paced the Bulldogs all season long offensively, and, with 142 kills, currently sits atop the roster.
She leads in hitting percentage, with an impressive .320 mark.
Jucan also leads the squad defensively, chalking up 104 digs so far this year.
Jucan’s role in MSU’s success is huge; she has accounted for 21 percent of the Bulldogs’ points.
Senior outside hitter Orshi Kriegel has also stepped up for MSU, sitting second offensively behind Jucan, with 131 kills.
Kriegel also has 95 digs and was named tournament MVP at the MSU/Microtel Classic two weekends ago.
Junior setter Eva Kriegel has contributed to the Bulldogs’ season thus far in tremendous fashion, having either assisted or killed in just over 60 percent of the Bulldogs’ total points this year.
She has chalked up 407 assists on the year.
Lauren Kowal has made the biggest impact on the squad among newcomers thus far.
The transfer middle blocker from Xavier University has tallied 75 kills in her short MSU career, as well as 31 blocks.
She leads the team with a .417 hitting percentage.
Megan Lukasek, who had been out of action until the eighth game of the season with a back injury, has returned as the team’s starting libero and has made her presence known on the court rather quickly.
Lukasek has already chalked up 38 digs for the team, averaging 2.71 per game.
She has shown no ill effects from her back injury, and is expected to be at normal capacity for this weekend’s games.