Mississippi State
Arkansas
State Falls Short In 3-1 Loss At Arkansas
October 11, 2009 | Volleyball
- Official Statistics
- Official Statistics (PDF)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Bulldogs got a career-best 19-kill performance from sophomore Caitlin Rance but fell short in a four-set
(25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24) Southeastern Conference volleyball match with Arkansas (10-9, 4-4 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Barnhill Arena. The loss blocked a Bulldog bid to register a season-first sweep of SEC weekend road matches after State knocked off Ole Miss Friday in five sets.
The Bulldogs rallied from a 15-5 deficit to claim the third set 25-23 and led 24-22 in set four before the Razorbacks reeled off four straight points for a match-clinching 26-24 win.
Rance tallied seven kills in the opening set and added seven more in the final frame to finish the match with 19 and just one attack error on a .474 hitting performance. It tied for the second-most kills by a Bulldog this season.
Arkansas amassed a 71-54 edge in kills and hit at a .354 clip for the match, but State stayed close with strong play at the net. MSU led in total blocks 13-8, with Ashley Newsome backing a nine-kill effort with a match-high eight assisted blocks. Ioana Demian, Faith Steinwedell and Dorey Gray had five blocks each.
"I'm proud of the way we fought back after getting off to a slow start in the first two sets and falling behind 15-5 in that third set," said coach Jenny Hazelwood. "Our defensive players were solid today and our passing helped put us in a position to contend for a win. Caitlin had 19 kills in her best performance of the year and continues to step up for us."
Arkansas hit a match-best .425 in winning the opening set 25-20. That see-saw affair included 15 tie scores. The Bulldogs scored four of the first five points to open the second set and took a 7-3 lead on Ashley Newsome's 500th career kill. But Arkansas pulled even at 9-9 and then used a 7-2 run midway in the period to take control in a 25-19 win in a second stanza that saw State commit nine attack errors.
The Razorbacks came back from the break and threatened to run away from the Bulldogs, racing to a 7-0 lead that later expanded to 15-5. But the Bulldogs battled back into contention, pulling even at 20-20 on an Arkansas attack error and, with a kill by freshman Chanelle Baker, completing the comeback with a 25-23 win.
Like the opening set, set four featured 15 ties and eight lead changes. Rance drilled back-to-back kills to give the Bulldogs a 23-20 lead, and a ball handling miscue by Arkansas minutes later put State at set point, 24-22. But the Razorbacks reeled off the next four points, two on kills by Kristin Seaton, to clinch the set and the match.
Jasmine Norton piled up 21 kills to lead a foursome of Razorbacks in double figures. Kendall Cleveland and Amanda Anderson had 14 each and Seaton had 10.
Newsome and Faith Steinwedell had nine kills each for MSU while Ioana Demian tallied eight. Junior libero Kayla Woodard paced MSU defenders with 15 digs while senior setter Dorey Gray finished with a career-high 46 assists and eight digs.
Mississippi State returns to action at the Newell-Grissom Building this weekend, hosting league-leading Kentucky Friday at 7 p.m. and SEC East foe Tennessee Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
