Mississippi State
Georgia
V-Ball Bulldogs Top Georgia 3-1, Set Record For SEC Wins
January 01, 1970 | Volleyball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Junior setter Eva Kriegel notched her fourth triple-double of the season and freshman outside hitter Martina Gregusova delivered 17 kills Sunday afternoon as Mississippi State (16-10, 7-9 SEC) completed an SEC weekend sweep with a 3-1 win (30-19, 30-20, 23-30, 30-26) over Georgia (6-20, 2-14 SEC). With the win MSU set a school record for conference wins and clinched back-to-back winning seasons for State for the second time in program history.
Kriegel, who set a school record with four triple-doubles last year, matched that mark with 14 kills, 45 assists and a career-high 15 digs. The Jaszbereny, Hungary, native also raised her career assists total to 1,576, climbing to fifth among MSU's all-time career assists leaders. The triple-double was the eighth of her two-year MSU career.
This was a good ending to a good weekend, said third-year MSU head coach Tina Seals. We got off to a quick start, winning the first two games impressively. We lost our focus and struggled with out serving, particularly in that third game. But we managed to get back on track and finish the match in four games. Martina (Gregusova) is beginning to play like a seasoned veteran on a regular basis, and Eva (Kriegel) contributes in so many ways. We also got a strong performance off the bench from Cristina (Jucan), and that lift she gave the team was a key factor today.
Georgia led briefly in the early going before State broke an 11-11 deadlock with a 15-2 burst. The Bulldogs reeled off nine straight points off serves by Jamie Joyner, two of which fell in for aces. Eva Kriegel hit .833 with five kills in six error-free attacks and Jucan tallied four kills off the bench to spark MSU to a 30-19 opening-set win.
MSU warmed up on offense in the second game, hitting at a match-best .455 clip. State raced to a 5-1 advantage and was never seriously challenged in taking a 30-20 win in game two. Gregusova tallied eight of MSU's 19 kills in the second stanza. Georgia's Maria Taylor tallied seven of Georgia's kills in the frame.
After the break, the visiting Bulldogs came to life, using a pair of MSU service errors to race to a 4-1 lead. State knotted the score at 4-4 and later at 7-7 on an ace by Megan Lukasek. But UG hit .304 for the game while State bogged down offensively with 11 hitting errors in the game. The offensive lapse enabled Georgia to build its lead out to seven points at 20-13 before closing the game with a 30-23 win.
The fourth game featured 15 ties and six lead changes. But with the game tied at 22-22, Gregusova gave State the lead with a kill and added two more down the stretch as MSU out-pointed Georgia 8-4 for a match-clinching 30-26 win. Eva Kriegel's fourth kill of the set ended the game and the match.
Gregusova's 17-kill, 15-dig effort included a .389 hitting display. Eva Kriegel had 14 kills and with 15 digs shared match honors with Georgia's Brooke Burlingame.
Jamie Joyner and Cristina Jucan added 12 kills apiece as MSU amassed a 67 to 44 advantage in kills for the match. Joyner, Erin Seago and Ioana Demian led a strong MSU showing at the next with three blocks each.
Georgia's Maria Taylor took match honors with 19 kills, equaling her Oct. 13 kills total against MSU in Athens, Ga. Brooke Peugh had eight kills and a match-high five blocks.
State struggled at the service line with 15 serving errors. But Joyner served up four aces and Orshi Kriegel added three to lessen the damage at serve.
The win clinched the second straight winning season for Mississippi State following last year's 15-12 finish. State's only previous back-to-back winning seasons came in 1989 and 1990. The win over Georgia was State's seventh against an SEC foe, breaking the previous school mark of six SEC wins set in 2005. Tina Seals' first MSU team tied the school record for SEC wins with five in 2004.
With the Sunday victory, MSU clinched its second two-win week in league play this season. The Bulldogs completed a two-match season series sweep of South Carolina with a 3-0 win Friday night at the Newell-Grissom Building.
State resumes SEC competition on the road this weekend, visiting Auburn Friday (Nov. 10) and No. 10 Florida Sunday (Nov. 12). The Bulldogs close out their 2006 schedule the following weekend, entertaining nationally-ranked LSU (Nov. 17) and Arkansas (Nov. 19) at the Newell-Grissom Building.
