Mississippi State
Tennessee
Seniors Power VBall Bulldogs To 3-2 Win Over Tennessee
October 19, 2007 | Volleyball
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - It wasn't senior night at the Newell-Grissom Building, but it as well have been. Mississippi State's five-player senior class took center stage Friday, powering Mississippi State to a 3-2 win over Tennessee, ending a 15-match series win streak by the Lady Vols and tying the MSU record for consecutive conference wins.
The Bulldogs (9-11, 4-7 SEC), dropped the opening set to UT 30-28, rebounded to take the next two 30-26 and 30-17 and then saw the Lady Vols (8-11, 3-8 SEC) extend the match with a 32-30 decision in game four. But in the deciding fifth game, State hit at a match-best .304 clip and had just one hitting error in salting away their third consecutive SEC win with a 15-12 victory in game five.
"I am so very proud of our seniors," said fourth-year Bulldog head coach Tina Seals. "They carried us tonight. The team got together and dedicated this match to our five seniors. Tennessee is one of the SEC teams that had not beaten, and tonight they made it happen."
Senior middle blockers Erin Seago and Lauren Kowal and senior libero Megan Lukasek had career nights. Seago tallied a career-high 16 kills. Kowal likewise matched a personal-best with 12 kills on a dandy .526 hitting night. Lukasek, who climbed to second on MSU's career digs list, piled up a career-best 31 digs while Jamie Joyner, also a senior, had 12 kills and a career-high 21 digs. The offense was directed by yet another senior, setter Eva Kriegel, who matched a season-best with 16 digs. Kriegel served up three of the Bulldogs' seven aces, dished out 46 assists and with eight kills came up just two kills shy of her SEC-leading fourth "triple-double".
"Our middles had an outstanding match for us tonight --- easily their best of the year," said Seals, who notched her 499th career coaching win. They did a terrific job tonight against a talented young Tennessee team. The 15 team blocks is a season-high, and that was a major factor in our success tonight. So, too, were our fans. They gave us a lift when we needed it."
Yuliya Stoyanova took match honors with a season-high 17 kills, all coming in the fourth and fifth games. Stoyanova kept the match alive for Tennessee. After the Bulldogs claimed a 2-1 lead in the match with a convincing 30-17 win in game three, Stoyanova came alive. Her 10 kills in the set ignited a UT comeback that enabled the the Lady Vols to overcome a 27-24 Mississippi State advantage en route to a 32-30 win in the set. She added seven more kills in the deciding fifth game. But the Bulldogs, nursing a precarious 7-6 lead, went on a 7-1 spree to take control of the set and then held off a UT charge at the end for a 15-12 win.
State held a 72-64 edge in kills and a .216 to .111 advantage in hitting percentage. Kowal and Seago combined for 14 assisted blocks to spearhead MSU's 15-7 lead in total team blocks. Both teams piled up 102 digs in the 2-1/2 hour match. Five Bulldogs reached double figures, a career-high 31 by Lukasek who raised her career digs total to a 1,396, passing Shauna Owens Robinson (1988-91) into second place among MSU's career leaders.
The win gave the Bulldogs a split of their two-match season series with Tennessee, a team the Bulldogs had not defeated since 1996.
The Bulldogs conclude their SEC weekend competition Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Newell-Grissom Building when State hosts SEC East foe Kentucky (16-6, 7-4 SEC) in a match to be televised by FOX Sports Net South. UK dropped a tough five-game decision Friday at Alabama.
