Mississippi State
Arkansas
State Rally Falls Short In Five-Set Thriller With Arkansas
November 14, 2008 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics STARKVILLE, Miss. - One of the lengthiest matches of the season turned out to be one of the more entertaining contests for the Volleyball Bulldogs Friday night at the Newell-Grissom Building. After dropping 25-18 and 25-20 decisions to Arkansas to open the match, Mississippi State rallied after the break to knot the match with 25-22 and 25-23 wins in the third and fourth sets. But the Razorbacks (7-19, 4-12 SEC), riding a career night by Christina Lawrence, turned back the Bulldogs (6-21, 1-15 SEC) with a 15-9 win in the deciding fifth set. The match, witnessed by nearly 300 enthusiastic fans, lasted two hours and 16 minutes, the longest matchof the season at the Newell-Grissom Building. Lawrence piled up 29 kills on a .444 hitting night and added seven blocks to spark Arkansas and block Mississippi State's bid for a third straight home court win in the series. "We played with a lot of spirit and focus tonight, and it seemed like we got a lift from the support shown by our fans" said Bulldog head coach Tina Seals. "We had one of the most intense weeks of practice in my coaching career, and the players responded with one of their best team efforts. It's very encouraging to see our young players step up their play like they did tonight. I saw a lot of positives. " For starters, the Bulldogs hit at a .248 clip, the team's second-best attack percentage of the campaign and the highest since the second match of the season. Junior outside hitter Ioana Demian totaled a team-best 18 kills to lead a trio of Bulldogs in double figures. Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Newsome tallied a career-best 15 kill on a .480 hitting night, while State's other middle, Mandy Mellencamp, had 10 kills and just on attack error on a .375 night. "It was the best night for our middles this year," said Seals. Mellencamp had four blocks and Newsome three, climbing past the century mark in total kills for the season. Freshman Kellye Jordan, sidelined by illness in State's last outing, matched a season-high with eight kills while junior setter Dorey Gray finished with seven kills and matched a career-best with 40 assists.. "We had more balance on offense and were able to distribute the ball better than we have all season," said Seals. Lawrence led a foursome of Lady Razorbacks with double figure kills totals. Heather Royal finished with 13, Kristin Seaton added 12 with eight blocks, and Kelli Stipanovich chipped in 10 kills. Demian had six of her 18 kills in the third set when the Bulldogs warmed up on offense and kept the match alive with a 25-22 win. State led throughout the stanza, though Arkansas stormed back to take their only lead of the set at 22-21 on a kill by Hillary McCormick. Back-to-back kills by Demian and a pair of Arkansas attack errors gave MSU the win, ending a run of 22 consecutive lost sets. Newsome took center stage for the Bulldogs in the fourth set, delivering seven kills on eight attempts. State raved to an early 3-0 lead in set four and built up a 12-6 edge before Arkansas battled back to pull even at 14-14 on a kill by Lawrence. The score was tied seven more times before State, on the strength of a Grace Hoyt ace and an Arkansas attack error, pulled away from a 23-all deadlock and evened the match at two sets apiece with a 25-23 win. Arkansas broke the Bulldogs' momentum early in the deciding fifth set. A pair of Heather Royal kills keyed a 4-1 start for the Lady Razorbacks. State closed to within a point three times, the last at 8-7 on a kill by Hoyt. But Arkansas built up a 12-6 edge in kills, a combined nine by Lawence and Royal, and closed out the match with a 15-9 decision in the set. The win gave Arkansas a sweep of the two-match season series. The Bulldogs close out their 16-match home schedule for 2008 Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. match against instate league foe Ole Miss (11-14, 7-9 SEC). The Rebels dropped a 3-0 decision Friday night at Alabama..
? Official Statistics (PDF)
