All marathons begin the same way: a single step.
On Saturday, Mississippi State volleyball took that first step toward greatness with a season opening sweep of Southern Mississippi.
“This was a good season-opening win for us,” second-year Bulldog head coach Tina Seals said. “Southern is well-coached and has a vastly improved team this year. We knew it was going to be a close battle, but we had different players step up and make big plays for us at key times.”
The Bulldogs looked a little tentative in Game One, getting down by as many as six before tying the game at 26.
The young players then did what they were unable to do most of last year-play well down the stretch and close out a game-and won a thrilling 32-30 decision.
“That’s one of our main themes throughout practice is focus,” senior outside hitter Rachael Cooper said. “They set up a lot of our drills where we’re either down at the end of the match or it’s really close and we’ve got to pull through.”
The team was able to carry that focus straight into the second game, smothering the Golden Eagles from the start and never letting up on their way to a 30-23 win.
Game Three gave the 215 fans in attendance another thriller as the Eagles again took an early lead before sending the Eagles home with a final score of 31-29.
“We’ve been practicing a lot and I think we finally came together,” Cooper said of the team’s efforts on the day. “It was a lot of fun playing out there.”
Cooper paced the team with 17 kills but was followed closely by junior Orshi Kriegel who logged 12 to go with her 11 digs and .455 attack percentage.
Newcomers Nicole Palazzo and Eva Kriegel both played significant roles for the team in their first outing with the Maroon and White. Both played in all three contests, combining for nine kills in the match. Fresh faces Jamie Cross, Lailah Putman and Cristina Jucan all also saw game action, helping the team develop the depth and experience they will need before conference play begins.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvement in our new players, and they’ve gelled right in with our team,” Cooper said. “We’ve had returners and upperclassmen really take them under their wing, and it showed in our play today. Nikki really stepped up in the middle for us today, Eva was setting, and everybody really did their role.”
Although the team soundly defeated the Eagles in three games, there are always improvements that can be made, and those shortcomings were not lost on coach Seals.
“We definitely saw some things that we need to work on,” Seals said. “I was proud to see the way we finished our games. It was a little shaky in the first game, but we were able to pull through. That was important to see.
“This game definitely gave us a view of what needed to be done, and we’re going to prepare along those lines for next week, and make those improvements,” Seals continued.
The team will return to organized competition next weekend with an early road trip to Blacksburg, Va., to play in Virginia Tech’s Hokie Fall Invitational.