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Volleyball Downs Tennessee With Second-Consecutive Conference Sweep
STARKVILLE,
Miss. – For the first time in school history, the Mississippi State
volleyball team (11-9, 2-4) notched consecutive sweeps over
Southeastern Conference opponents as it downed the Tennessee Volunteers
(8-13, 0-7) in straight sets Sunday afternoon in the Newell-Grissom
Building.
The Bulldogs swept South Carolina (11-9, 3-5) Friday night to begin the weekend home stand.
“I
thought we played well this weekend,” Bulldog head coach Jenny
Hazelwood said. “Taylor (Scott) and Kimmy (Gardiner) had a pair of
great games and Roxanne (McVey) played one of her best matches of the
season today. It’s refreshing to see the hard work these girls put in
finally pay off on the court. We’ll take these two wins and build on
them as we get ready to play a very good Kentucky team on the road next
Friday.”
Picking up right where she left off Friday night,
sophomore Taylor Scott posted yet another double-double with 13 kills,
13 digs and a .419 hitting percentage.
Much like Friday night’s
opening-set thriller, the Volunteers fended off MSU’s first set point
before an ace from Katyln Mataya sealed the deal. State and UT traded
points early in the match but a 5-1 run gave the Bulldogs a short-lived
lead at 12-8 before the Vols stormed back to take a 14-13 advantage.
Tennessee gained as much as a three-point cushion before the MSU closed
it out at 26-24.
State controlled much of the second set after
jumping out to an early lead and UT could never regain momentum as it
fell 25-17. Sophomore Alex Warren stole the show in the second frame
after hitting .571 with five kills and MSU’s only hitting error of the
set.
The final set was all Mississippi State as the Bulldogs claimed a 25-16 victory.
McVey
finished the match with 23 digs, an ace and six assists. The sophomore
libero currently leads the SEC in digs per set during conference
matches with 5.72. She is also averaging 5.64 digs per set on the
season, which matches her average from the 2012 season when she set the
conference record.
Kimmy Gardiner also recorded her
second-consecutive double-double and eighth of the season, which leads
all SEC freshmen. She posted 12 kills and 13 digs to go along with a
block.
Setters Suzanne Horner (22) and Mataya (15) combined for 38 of State’s 44 assists on the day.
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