Mississippi State
Kentucky
UK Ends Bulldogs' SEC Win Streak With 3-1 Decision
October 21, 2007 | Volleyball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State came up short in its bid for a school-record fourth consecutive SEC volleyball victory Sunday afternoon at the Newell-Grissom Building. Kentucky's Wildcats (17-6, 8-4 SEC) rode the power of middle blockers Queen Nzenwa and Nicole Britenriker to a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs (8-12, 4-8 SEC), claiming the match 30-25, 32-30, 23-30, 30-25. The loss was the lone setback for MSU during its four-match home stand.
"I'm proud of the way our team battled against an outstanding Kentucky team today," said head coach Tina Seals. "Like many teams, we had our problems at times offensively against them. Nzenwa and Britenriker are all-conference performers, and they played like it today. But we also took advantage of some opportunities and put ourselves in a position to be successful today."
Britenriker had 18 kills and Nzenwa 16 kills and nine total bocks to lead the UKats to their 16th consecutive volleyball win over Mississippi State. UK held a 64-57 advntage in kills, an 84-55 edge in digs and a 14-9 lead in total team blocks. Sarah Rumely followed Nzenwa with eight total blocks.
A spirited "Fan Appreciation Day" crowd of 352 saw the Bulldogs string together an 8-0 run to bolt to an 11-3 lead in the opening set. But Kentucky answered with an impressive run of its own, reeling off seven straight to forge a 14-13 lead. Nzenwa tied the score at 13-13 with one block and put UK on top with another block moments later.
Senior Erin Seago kept the Bulldogs in contention with three kills down the stretch, her last of the set that pulled MSU with within a point at 26-25. But Britenriker extended the UK lead back to two points at 27-25 with a kill and three straight Bulldog attack errors enabled Kentucky to take the opening set.
Cristina Jucan drilled a kill to give MSU a quick 1-0 lead. It would be the only lead of the stanza for State, though the Bulldogs, who trailed by as many as eight at 20-12, rallied to tie the match at 29-29 and 30-30. Setter Eva Kriegel tied the score at 29-29 off an assist by Jucan, and Jucan, off an assist by Kriegel, came through with a kill that evened the count at 30-30. But a Bulldog service error and an ace by Britenriker ended MSU's comeback try and gave UK a 32-30 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
State returned from intermission with improved hitting, registering a match-best .304 attack percentage in claiming the third set 30-23. Jucan and Ioana Demian delivered five kills each and Kriegel delivered three aces and a pair of kills during a 5-1 MSU spree that helped nail down the win. State twice led by as many as eight points late in the match before a kill by Demian gave State a 30-23 win.
But UK's powerful tandem of Nzenwa and Britenriker took over the match in game four. The duo tallied seven kills apiece as UK, helped along by 10 MSU attack errors, pulled away from a 16-16 deadlock to take the match with a 30-25 win in game four.
Four Bulldogs reached double figures in kills. Cristina Jucan totaled 14, Jamie Joyner and Ioana Demian had 11 each and Erin Seago finished with 10. Megan Luksaek, who piled up a career-best 31 digs in Friday's win over Tennessee, led MSU with 20. Joyner reached double figures in digs with 10 to notch her third "double-double" in the past three matches.
Lauren Kowal paced MSU at the next with five blocks, including two solo stops.
Kriegel matched a career-high with five service aces, raising her MSU career total to 1465 and climbing to fifth among MSU's career leaders. But five MSU service errors proved costly for State, four of those at crucial times in the first and second sets.
Britenriker backed her 18-kills performance with a match-high 21 digs. Nzenwa had 16 kills and nine blocks, Sarah Rumely added eight blocks and Sarah Mendoza finished with 10 kills.
"I'm pleased with the way our team played and competed this weekend," said Seals. "We've seen improvements in a lot of areas, and we need those to continue as we face some stiff challenges on the road over the next two weeks."
The Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., Wednesday for their final midweek match of the 2007 campaign, a 7 p.m. meeting with SEC West foe Alabama.
