After a disappointing home loss in their matchup Friday night against Georgia, the Mississippi State volleyball team picked up a dramatic conference win Sunday against Auburn.
Fueling off an electric crowd at Newell-Grissom Building, the Bulldogs were able to erase a 2-1 set deficit and finish off the Tigers in the final set of the match, something head coach Jenny Hazelwood said represents the composition of her team.
“We’re trying to find our identity on a consistent basis,” Hazelwood said. “One of the things that they want to be known as are fighters.”
The match started well for MSU, who battled neck and neck with Auburn until pulling away to win the first set 25-22.
It seemed like the Bulldogs were going to take the second set, too, but Auburn was able to even the match, erasing 6-1 and 14-9 deficits to take the set 25-23.
State’s struggles continued into the third set, in which the Bulldogs never saw the lead. The Tigers took advantage of several MSU miscues and took the set 25-18.
Trailing two sets to one, the Bulldogs fell behind the Tigers early in the fourth set. Just as it seemed as though Auburn was going to run away with the match, MSU refused to go away, tying the Tigers at 15-15. It was all State for the remainder of the set, as the Bulldogs tied the match at two sets a piece with a convincing score of 25-20.
The momentum gained in the fourth set carried over into the fifth set for the Bulldogs. An energized crowd ignited MSU, who took advantage of Auburn mistakes to take the final set and the match by a score of 15-11, capping off a crucial conference comeback. 
The win marks the third-straight Sunday match in which State has been able to come away with a five-set victory.
“During the matches, when we’re losing, there comes a point when you have to make the decision that you’re going to pick up you game and fight to win,” said junior libero Hillary Parker. “I feel like this team finds that in themselves in the middle match, that we need to fight. We know we can come back from a deficit; we’ve done it before, and everyone believes we can fight and win.”
MSU, who never trailed in the fifth set and was led the entire match by senior outside-hitter Caitlin Rance, who had a career-high 26 kills. Although the personal-best is impressive, Rance said it meant more to her that MSU was able to come away with the win.
“It means something to me, but I know that I have to do it for us to be successful,” she said.
Along with setting a career-high in kills, Rance also moved into the top 10 all-time in kills at MSU, tallying 975 in her ongoing career, a stat that will surely grow before her time as a Bulldog comes to a close.
“It means a lot to me. I really do strive for it,” Rance said. “I want to get as many as I can and get as high up there as I can.”
She added although the records are important to her, the success of her team is much more important.
Along with her 26 kills, Rance added 14 digs, Freshman middle-blocker Lainey Wyman had 14 kills and junior Hillary Parker led the team with 27 digs.
The come-from-behind win puts the MSU volleyball team back over .500 for the season with a 9-8 record. The Bulldogs will now prepare for the University of Kentucky, who they will play this coming Friday night at Humphrey Coliseum in the first game of the last half of the Bulldogs four game home-stand.
The game will be played on MSU’s basketball court as a part of Maroon Madness. One of the goals of the event is to attempt to set the SEC record for attendance at a volleyball match. The current record is 8,126, which was set by the University of Florida in 1994.
Hazelwood said the game against Kentucky in the Hump could be a huge step in building a championship-caliber program.
“(The players) are so excited already,” she said. “For our program to be able to possibly break an SEC attendance record, I cannot even put into words how big that would be for us and for the future.”
The match Friday night against Kentucky, which is free to MSU students and the public, will begin at 7 p.m.