MSU volleyball is entering the stretch run of the home-SEC schedule trying to rebound from an embarrassing loss against Auburn Sunday. The competition doesn’t get any easier as the Bulldogs host the University of Georgia and the No. 8 Florida Gators in their last full home weekend of the season.
“Georgia is a very good team with a very talented coaching staff,” assistant coach Jozsef Forman said, “and Florida is one of the best teams in the nation. We will have to show a lot of heart this weekend or we won’t win any games.”
Florida is 10-0 in the SEC this season, and has one of the most talented squads in the nation. Georgia is third in the SEC East behind Florida and No. 16 Tennessee. Georgia is a high quality team, sporting a 6-4 SEC record, despite being only 1-3 in conference road games.
Despite MSU’s recent struggles there are still many positives to be drawn from the season to this point. The Lady Dawgs have jumped more than 100 spots in the national rankings since the season began, making them one of the top five most-improved teams in the nation, Forman said.
Under first year head coach Tina Seals, the squad is in the middle of one of the most successful seasons in school history. The young squad has already surpassed many critics’ expectations by winning 12 of its first 22 games, and is two SEC wins away from tying a school record. Seals said the team is ahead of where she thought they would be at this point, but still feels they are capable of much more than they have shown in recent weeks.
“This team is a very young team this year with seven new players and only two returning starters,” Seals said. “The SEC is a very strong conference and we have worked very hard this season. The coaching staff is stressing the importance of ‘heart’ and going back to the basics with our serve and serve reception.”
Seals said serving problems and failure to receive serves were strengths earlier in the season but have been problematic lately.
“Recently we have slipped in those two areas and so those are where we are focusing this week,” Seals said. “When we get these two areas back under control we will be back in the matches again.”
With wins over Troy State and Southern Mississippi sandwiched in between, the Lady Dawgs have lost their last three SEC matches and six out of the last seven.
“The team is tired mentally and physically,” Forman said. “We try to teach them to never give up, because that is the key to improvement. They have to look at the Auburn loss and see how much more work it will take to win. The next three weeks will be a test for them.”