The Mississippi State Volleyball Bulldogs abandoned the traditional notion of friendly Southern hospitality over the weekend on the way to winning the MSU/Ramada Inn Classic in Humphrey Coliseum. MSU closed out the championship with an impressive 3-1 victory over the Boston College Eagles. State dropped the opening game before winning the last three. Game 2 shifted back and forth before the Dawgs emerged as winners.
In game 3, State took control of the match thanks to a dominant blocking performance that converted five team blocks into instant offense. MSU never looked back after that.
“I told them it was time to pull ahead. It’s always nice when they respond,” head coach Brenda Bowlin said. “Everyone stepped up when they needed to.”
The win that kept the title hardware in Starkville followed a 3-1 win over the Lamar Lady Cardinals and a convincing 3-0 victory over the Samford Bulldogs.
Bowlin, in her sixth year at the helm in Starkville, reached the 150-career-win mark in Friday’s home opener with Samford.
Bowlin, who has now posted 61 wins for the Maroon and White, said that added experience will be a key to the team’s success in the 2002 campaign.
Although State has just one senior, six juniors who logged valuable experience in last year’s contests are developing into significant contributors.
The lone senior, Misty Hubenthal, led the Dawgs’ attack with 58 kills on the way to earning tournament MVP honors. The native of Georgetown, Texas,
registered her 19th career double-double with a 19-kill, 16-dig performance against Lamar.
Hubenthal, the 2001 team MVP, gave credit to her teammates’ performance saying, “Everybody contributed. We are a team that thrives on emotion. We came out flat, but then we found it.”
Junior Jennifer Hadden tallied 129 sets over the tournament to prepare the Bulldogs for attack.
Freshman Rachel Cooper capitalized on 38 of those sets for kills. Cooper also recorded her second double-double of the season with a 13-kill, 14-dig performance against BC. Juniors Jennifer Rousey, Nicole Broome and Hilary Chambers all made their net presence known, rejecting spike after spike.
Junior Lauren Bounds successfully backed up the wall up front by recording 40 digs over the weekend as the libero. This defensive substation position is new to NCAA women’s volleyball for the 2002 season, and State fans can expect to see Bounds in this role frequently.
Hadden and junior Tanika Taylor helped throughout the tourney on defense. Both finished with 30 digs to finish in a tie for second on the team.
The Bulldogs hit the road to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for a contest at Middle Tennessee State University at 6 p.m. tonight, before traveling to DeKalb, Ill., to compete in the University of Northern Illinois Husky Invitational on Friday and Saturday.