Mississippi State
Florida
No. 6 Florida Falls MSU 3-0
September 28, 2007 | Volleyball
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Unbeaten Florida lived up to its No. 6 national volleyball ranking Friday night, hitting at a season-best .505 clip en route to a 3-0 win over Mississippi State at the Newell-Grissom Building.
The Gators (12-0, 5-0 SEC), winners of 16 consecutive SEC titles, turned back solid challenges by the Bulldogs in the first two sets, 30 before cruising to a match-clinching 30-14 decision in game three. It was the first meeting this year with a ranked opponent for Mississippi State (6-8, 1-4 SEC).
"It's easy to see why Florida is considered one of the nation's top teams again this year," said MSU head coach Tina Seals. "They are so talented and don't make many mistakes. But I was very proud of the way we battled them tonight. We played well at times and gave them a battle in the first two games."
The Bulldogs erased a six-point deficit and with a kill by Lauren Kowal took a 22-21 lead over the Gators in the opening set. UF's Marcie Hampton answered with a kill that tied that score at 22-22, and the Gators out-pointed State 8-4 down the stretch to take the first set 30-26.
State stayed with the Gators early in game two and on a rare Gator attack error took a 12-11 lead. Florida then went on a 9-1 run to take control of the game, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-23 win.
Florida quickly gained the upper hand in game three, racing to a 9-2 advantage and sealing its 12th win in as many starts with a lopsided 30-14 showing in the final set. The Gators had 14 kills in 19 attempts without an attack error. State, meanwhile, had nine kills and nine attack errors.
Marcie Hampton and Kisya Killingsworth had 14 kills each and Amber McCray added 10 to spark the Gators. Killingsworth also paced UF at the net with five total blocks.
Cristina Jucan and Jamie Joyner had nine kills each and Lauren Kowal chipped in eight.
Mississippi State resumes SEC competition and closes out its September schedule Sunday in a 1:30 p.m. match with South Carolina (7-7, 0-5 SEC), which dropped a 3-0 decision Friday night at Alabama. The Bulldogs have claimed three of their last five meetings with South Carolina. And following a sweep of last year's two-match series with the Gamecocks, State is vying for its first three-match win streak against USC.
