Mississippi State
South Carolina
Gamecocks Turn Back Solid Challenge By VB Bulldogs
September 27, 2009 | Volleyball
- Official Statistics
- Official Statistics (PDF)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Mississippi State registered its highest SEC hitting percentage in 30 matches Sunday but fell short in a closely-contested 3-0 battle with South Carolina. The Gamecocks (10-3, 2-2 SEC) turned back the Bulldogs 25-22, 26-24, 25-17 before 621 fans at USC's Volleyball Competition Center.
"I'm proud of the way the girls competed today," said State coach Jenny Hazelwood. "A lot of the things that we've been working on --- our blocking, our passing and out serving, are beginning to come around for us, and we're starting to develop some consistency in our execution. Our setters did a nice job spreading the ball around and we got good balance on offense."
Hazelwood also had praise for senior Ioana Demian, who made the shift to middle blocker and responded with a career-best seven assisted blocks. "Ioana is solid wherever we need her to play for us," said Hazelwood. "Today we moved her to middle and she turned in strong performance at the net."
Demian bettered her personal-best block assist mark of six set as a freshman in a 3-2 MSU win at South Carolina in 2006.
State hit .283 for the match, the highest SEC hitting percentage for State since hitting .302 at Auburn on November 2, 2007.
The also Bulldogs turned in one of their strongest showings at the net, amassing a 10-2 match lead in total team blocks. Kellye Jordan and Faith Steinwedell registered season-bests four total blocks each.
State jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the match and built out a 20-18 advantage. But USC, overcoming a match-best .345 hitting display by State, out-pointed the Bulldogs 7-2 down the stretch for a 25-22 opening set win.
Back-to-back kills by Kellye Jordan sparked a 6-0 Bulldog run in the second set that saw the Bulldogs battle to an 18-16 lead and later to a serve at set point, 24-23. But USC drilled three straight kills, the last two by Teresa Stenlund, to take a 26-24 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
South Carolina spotted the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead to open the third stanza, then took control of the match with a 7-0 run. Faith Steinwedell nailed kills that pulled State to within a point twice down the stretch at 11-10 and 13-12. But the Gamecocks put the set and match away with a 5-1 spurt and closed out a 25-17 set with their fourth service ace of the day.
Sophomore Caitlin Rance registered a team-leading nine kills and hit at a .348 clip. Sophomore Faith Steinwedell had a season-best six kills while Ashley Newsome, Dorey Gray and Kellye Jordan chipped in five kills each. Senior setter Dorey Gray returned to the Bulldog starting lineup and tallied a season high five kills in six error-free attacks while leading State with 17 assists. Sophomore Leanna King, making her first career start as the Bulldog libero, paced MSU with nine digs.
South Carolina got a dominating offensive performance by Meredith Moorhead, who had 17 kills and just two attack errors on a .625 hitting day.
The Bulldogs continue their three-match SEC road run Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with a 7 p.m. match at Alabama (5-9, 3-1 SEC). MSU hosts SEC West rival LSU Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
