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Bulldogs Drop Sunday Afternoon Match To Auburn
AUBURN,
Ala. – To cap a two-week road swing, the Mississippi State volleyball
team (11-13, 2-8) dropped a three-set match to the Auburn Tigers (15-8,
6-5) Sunday afternoon on the Plains.
“You have to give credit to
where credit is due,” MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood said. “Auburn came
out ready to play and we just didn’t have it today. Our passing broke
down. Our hitting was off. We did not execute the we wanted to. With
four straight home matches coming up, its time to clean this up and
finish the season strong.”
The Bulldogs looked to be off to a
good start after freshman Suzanne Horner notched an ace on the first
serve of the match and followed it up by forcing Auburn out of system
on the next. The Tigers would recover to take the second point and
eventually pull ahead 8-3 to force an MSU timeout. State was
out-blocked 4.0 to zero and dropped the first frame 25-17.
Auburn
never gave the Bulldogs any momentum in the second set, again jumping
out to an 8-3 lead to force Hazelwood into a timeout. The Tigers would
go on to build a 16-6 advantage and never let up, clinching the second
set 25-16.
MSU challenged Auburn early in the third set but it was not meant to be as the Tigers pulled away in the clincher to win 25-16.
Freshman
Kimmy Gardiner turned in another 11 kills after posting 23 against
Alabama Friday night. She also notched seven digs and a block, while
Taylor Scott contributed eight kills and six digs.
Junior
transfer Kelsey Stommes made her first-career start and SEC debut in
the match. The Cold Spring, Minn., native posted three kills, three
service aces and a dig. Freshman Kaitlyn Schoeppner also made her SEC
debut in the second set and recorded a block.
Roxanne McVey led all Bulldogs with eight digs and Katlyn Mataya paced the way with 15 assists. Horner also added 12 assists.
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