The Bulldog volleyball team dropped two matches this weekend when the Wildcats and Lady Vols came to town. State took a game off of Kentucky but lost 17-25, 25-18, 19-25, 18-25.
No. 22 Tennessee defeated the Bulldogs in straight sets 17-25, 18-25, 15-25.
However, State did receive some good news this weekend as senior libero Kayla Woodard was one of two SEC players names to the first team Academic All-District team. Woodard is one of 50 players who now advance for consideration for the Academic All-American team. Head coach Jenny Hazelwood said she is proud of Woodard for receiving this honor.
“We are so proud to have Kayla Woodard representing Mississippi State on the CoSIDA Academic All-District VI team; her dedication to excellence in the classroom is such a great example of the kind of student-athlete we want at Mississippi State,” Hazelwood said. “She has been diligent in her efforts to work hard while keeping a good balance so that she can perform at her best academically and athletically. Kayla sets the standard very high within our program and is a great example for others to follow.”
Woodard finished her undergraduate studies at MSU last summer with a 4.0 GPA, earning a degree in elementary education. She is currently enrolled in graduate school at MSU.
Woodard is looking to become just the third Mississippi State volleyball player to be named to the Academic All-American team. Woodard said she is very excited to receive this honor.
“It’s really cool to be selected for that because [SID Joe Dier] said that not many people in MSU history have been nominated for it,” Woodard said. “It’s definitely an honor, and I feel very blessed.”
Woodard does not only excel academically, but she has also been a key contributor for the Bulldogs on the court this season. With her third dig in Friday’s match, she became the fourth Bulldog ever to record 1,300 digs in a career, and after finishing the weekend with 27 digs, she is only two shy of reaching the 400 dig mark for the second consecutive season.
Also climbing the charts for the Bulldogs this weekend was senior middle blocker Ashley Newsome. Newsome finished the weekend with four solo blocks, moving her to second among State’s all time career block leaders.
But these solid performers were not enough to propel the Dawgs past the Wildcats and Volunteers. In the first game against Kentucky, the Bulldogs continued the offensive woes, hitting at a dismal .053 rate with just nine kills. However, the Dawgs came back strong to take the second set led by junior Caitlin Rance’s six kills.
Rance finished the night with 12 kills and 15 digs to record her team-leading ninth double-double of the season.
The third and fourth sets were all Kentucky as the Wildcats caused several miscues and unforced errors on State’s side. Hazelwood noticed her team had trouble giving away points.
“When you’re playing a good team like that, you can’t give away easy points; I found myself a number of times in timeouts talking to them about giving [UK] points and that if we would clean that up, we would win this,” Hazelwood said. “We’re still working hard to clean up some of those kind of things, and we’re struggling with that right now.”
Sunday’s match proved no better for State as they continued to struggle on the court. Rance again led the Bulldogs with 10 kills and was one dig away from her second double-double of the weekend. A bright spot for the Dawgs was sophomore middle hitter Mandy Mellencamp, who recorded eight kills in both matches. Hazelwood said they were looking to go to Mellencamp more this weekend.
“A lot of times teams are going to commit block with Ashley because she’s so good, which leaves it open for Mandy to get a lot of one-on-ones, so that was something we had planned to do,” Hazelwood said. “We still have to get Ashley the ball a little more than we did, but I feel like it’s good to have more offensive weapons and threats.”
After being down 4-0 to begin the opening set, the Vols only trailed once more the whole match.
Five Volunteer players finished with five or more kills as they out-hit the Bulldogs 44-34. This win gave Tennessee a 12-4 record in the SEC and 21-5 record overall. Woodard said the girls are continuing to struggle transferring their consistency in practice to their matches.
“Last weekend, we had a rough weekend just not taking care of us and doing the things we practiced each and every day. We come out to practice every day, work hard, and go all out, and it’s so much better than when we come out here,” Woodard said. “We are really focusing on taking that step over and transferring how well we’re doing in practice and scrimmaging into a game. I think it’s a mindset, and we just have to get over the hump.”
The girls have more opportunities to work on this as they travel to Gainesville this weekend to take on the currently No. 1 team in the nation, the Florida Gators. After this battle, the Bulldogs head to Columbia to meet South Carolina. With a 2-3 loss earlier this season looming in their minds, the Bulldogs are eager to have another shot at the Gamecocks.