Mississippi State
Kentucky
No. 11 UK Turns Back Bulldogs In Lexington
November 08, 2009 | Volleyball
- Official Statistics
- Official Statistics (PDF)
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mississippi State recovered from a slow start Sunday afternoon but came up on the short end of a 3-0 SEC volleyball score against the league-leading Kentucky Wildcats. The Bulldogs (6-21, 2-14 SEC) dropped a 25-11 decision in the opening set but played UK (24-2, 14-1 SEC) close in the final two games, 25-19, 25-19.
Sarah Mendoza and Lauren Rapp were the big guns for UK, registering match-high 13-kill performances. Ioana Demian led State with six kills. Both MSU and UK had 13 attack errors, but the Wildcats more than doubled the Bulldogs in kill production, 52-21.
Sophomore Faith Steinwedell and freshman Dravon Rangel added four-kill, three-block efforts for State. Steinwedell also served up a team-best three aces.
State opens a two-set homestand Friday at the Newell-Grissom Building, taking on SEC West rival Arkansas in a 7 p.m. (CST) match.
The Wildcats opened the match with a Stephanie Klefot service ace and never trailed in registering a lop-sided 25-11 opening set win. A strong UK blocking game kept the Bulldog offense off-balance throughout the stanza, with six different Wildcats registering blocks and holding State to a -.029 attack percentage. Sarah Mendoza had four kills for UK and Ioana Demian two for State.
The Bulldogs challenged the Wildcats in the second set, extending an early lead to three points at 10-7 on a kill by Faith Steinwedell and claiming a 15-13 advantage on the second of two block solos by freshman Chanelle Baker. But the 11th-ranked Wildcats staged a 6-0 run to take control of the set. Mendoza delivered eight kills in the stanza, scoring the last two points in a 25-19 win that sent UK to intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match. Steinwedell, Demian, Caitlin Rance and freshman Dravon Rangel had two kills each in the set to pace MSU.
State scored the first points of the third set and stayed in contention with the UKats for much of the stanza. A Demian kill knotted the score at 14-14 to cap a 5-1 Bulldog run. Dorey Gray notched a kill to draw the Bulldogs to within a point at 17-16. But Becky Pavan knocked down three quick kills to douse the MSU rally and Kentucky went on to close out the set and the match with a 25-19 win.
