Mississippi State
11-10, 3-7SEC
Alabama
9-11, 1-9SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 23 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 1 |
| MSTATE | 25 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 3 |
State Storms Past The Tide, 3-1
October 20, 2010 | Volleyball
“These girls just don't give up, and that's a great trait to have,” said second-year Bulldog coach Jenny Hazelwood. “We knew we had a battle on our hands with a talented Alabama team, but our girls have been working so hard to become more consistent and take care of things on our side of the court. When we do that, it doesn't matter what the score is, we can come back if we take care of things on our side.”
Junior outside hitter Caitlin Rance was the primary “caretaker” for the Bulldogs Wednesday night. State's season leader in kills tallied 17 kills and notched her team-leading seventh double-double of the campaign. “It seemed like every time we needed a point, Caitlin was there to make a big play for us tonight,” said Hazelwood.
Rance, who shared match kills honors with Alabama's Kayla Fitterer, led a trio of Bulldogs registering double-digit kills totals. Senior middle blocker Ashley Newsome drilled 12, her final spike knotting the deciding fourth set at 25-all, while freshman Chanelle Baker added 10 on a team-best .360 hitting performance.
Alyssa Meuth had 13 kills and Leigh Moyer added 11 for the Tide as Alabama edged State in kills for the match 58-53. But State won the defensive battle, out-digging Alabama 69-64 and built up a 13-9 edge in total team blocks. Newsome and junior middle Hannah Wilkinson shared match honors at the net with six total blocks each. Three of Wilkinson's blocks were solo knock-downs.
Baker, Newsome and Rance delivered four kills each in State's 25-23 opening set win, but Alabama took advantage of 12 Bulldog attack errors to pull even at the break with a 25-23 win of its own. Rance registered six of State's 14 kills in the set.
State stepped up its play in the third set and never trailed again after giving up a set-opening kill by Meuth. With just one attack error, the Bulldogs hit at a hefty .474 clip and led by as many as eight at 22-14 before taking the set 25-18 on one of the Tide's 13 service errors.
The deciding fourth set included an impressive 9-0 burst by Alabama that helped the Tide overcome a 13-11 State lead and claim a hefty 20-13 advantage. A Shelbi Goode kill gave UA a 24-20 and on the verge of forcing a fifth set. But State reeled off the next four points to pull even at 24-24, tied the Tide against at 25-25 on Newsome's final kill of the night, and capped the comeback with a game and match-winning swing by Chanelle Baker.
The Bulldogs totaled 69 digs, their third-highest total of the season. Freshman setter Paris Perret backed a 43-assist night with 15 digs for her fifth double-double, while State senior libero Kayla Woodard also finished with 15. Bama's Kelsey Anderson took match honors with 20 digs.
Mississippi State closes out its Homecoming week slate Friday night, hosting instate rival and Western Division-leading Ole Miss (14-5, 8-2 SEC) in a 7 p.m. match at the Newell-Grissom Building. “Our fans were a huge factor for us tonight, and we need them in the stands Friday night,” said Hazelwood.
