Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Dogs Upend Rebels 3-1 On Senior Day At Newell-Grissom
November 11, 2007 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's senior-laden volleyball team closed out its 2007 home schedule in memorable fashion Sunday, knocking off instate SEC rival Ole Miss 3-1 (30-22, 27-30, 30-23, 30-27) to gain a split of this year's season series. The win was the fourth straight at home and seventh in the last eight matches for the Bulldogs (12-15, 7-11 SEC) and knocked the Rebels (22-7, 12-6 SEC), currently sporting a No. 25 national RPI ranking, out of first place in the SEC Western Division.
"What a great way for our seniors to end their careers," said fourth-year Bulldog head coach Tina Seals. "They were determined to defend the home court and finish their careers unbeaten at home against Ole Miss. I'm very proud of the way they continued to battle and keep their focus in such an emotional match."
Seals was particularly pleased with the play of senior middles Erin Seago and Lauren Kowal, who helped the Bulldogs claim a 12-8 edge in team blocking. Seago tallied a team-leading 14 kills on an efficient .636 hitting performance with three blocks. Kowal finished with seven kills but matched a career-best with eight total blocks (one solo and seven assists).
"We knew we had to get them more involved with our offense, and Eva did a great job of getting the ball to them," she said. "We've spent a lot of time focusing on defense and blocking over the past few weeks in practice, and it was great to see it pay off in a big match and against an outstanding team like Ole Miss."
The Bulldogs got 13-kill performances by senior opposite hitter Jamie Joyner and sophomore opposite hitter Ioana Demian. Both reached double-double status with 13 and 14 digs respectively. "I can't say enough about the improvement that Ioana has made since she replaced Cristina (Jucan) in our lineup. She's gotten better in one way or another every time she's stepped on the court and was a big factor in our success today."
Lauren Moffett opened the match with a kill for UM, but it would be the lone lead of the opening game for the visiting Rebels. Demian's first kill of the day gave MSU its first lead of the set at 2-1 and a Demian ace made its 5-2 State. Katie Kramer capped a 5-1 Rebel surge with a kill that drew UM to within a point at 10-9. But State took control of the match with a pair of 5-0 runs on the serves of Jennifer Hauskey and Megan Lukasek and salted the first set away at 30-22 on a UM attack error, their 11th of the set.
Seago registered kills that gave State leads of 12-9 and 23-19 in game two. But the Rebels got a seven-kill showing by Caitlin Weiss and out-scored State 10-4 down the stretch to even the match with a 30-27 win.
The Bulldogs struggled offensively to open the third set. A trio of MSU attack errors helped UM to forge a 7-3 lead before Jamie Joyner registered State's first kill of the stanza. The Rebels took a 15-13 before the Bulldogs staged a 6-0 run. Lukasek served up a pair of aces during the spree that helped get the Bulldogs back into the match. An ace by UM's Tara Langley knotted the score at 20-20, but Seago answered with three consecutive kills to give MSU a 24-20 edge and the Bulldogs went on to post a 30-23 win. Seago and Demian had five kills each in game three.
State hit at a match-best .268 clip in the deciding fourth game. The Bulldogs surge ahead 23-18 with a kill by Kowal only to see the Rebels answer with an 8-2 run that gave UM a 26-25 advantage and threatened to extend the match to five games. But seniors Joyner and Seago stepped up with big swings, Joyner a game-tying kill at 26-26 and Seago with three more as the Bulldogs clinched the match with a 30-27 decision.
The Bulldogs' SEC-leading serving game was a key factor in the closely-contested match. State reached double figures in aces (10) for the seventh time this season, four by Kriegel and three more Lukasek.
Lukasek registered a match-high 24 digs while freshman defensive specialist Kayla Woodard recorded a season-best 15. With her performance, Lukasek raised her season digs total to 479, fourth-best single-season mark at State. She needs 27 more digs to break the school record.
Caitlin Weiss paced Ole Miss with a match-high 20 kills. Lauren Moffett added 14 kills and a team-best six blocks while Tara Langley and Rachel Kieckhaefer combined for 42 of UM's 79 digs.
The win helped the Bulldogs finish with a 7-6 record at the Newell-Grissom Building in 2007.
State hits the road for a pair of SEC Eastern Division battles next weekend, wrapping up their 2007 campaign at South Carolina Friday and at No. 8 Florida Sunday.
