Newsome Stars As State Claims 3-2 Win In TV Match At Georgia

Sunday, October 3

Athens, Ga.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

10-6, 2-3SEC

Georgia

10-7, 2-4SEC

MSTATE

Georgia

Newsome Stars As State Claims 3-2 Win In TV Match At Georgia

October 03, 2010 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

ATHENS, Ga. - Senior middle blocker Ashley Newsome delivered a career-best and team season-high 26 kills Sunday afternoon to spark Mississippi State (10-6, 2-3 SEC) to a five-set win (5-27, 32-30, 25-17, 20-25, 15-110 ) over the Georgia Bulldogs (10-7, 2-4 sec) in an SEC volleyball match regionally-televised by FOX Sports Net from UGA's Ramsey Student Center. It was State's first SEC road win of the campaign and the first road win over Georgia since 2005.

“It was great to get an SEC win on the road and in a televised match,” said second-year head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “It was an outstanding all-around team effort. I'm most proud of our veteran players like Ashley (Newsome), Caitlin (Rance) and Kayla (Woodard) who have worked so hard and have been so steady for us this year. It all came together for them today and it's great to see their hard work get positive results like this.

“Our blocking has been a point of emphasis in practice and our serving was strong today. Those were two big factors in our favor.”

State hit .327 for the match, its third .300 hitting performance of the year, and placed three players in double figures in kills. Newsome, with one attack error in 45 swings, hit .556 with 26 kills. Junior Caitlin Rance followed with 17 kills and freshman Dani McCree tallied a personal-best 14 with three blocks. Senior libero Kayla Woodard finished 31 digs, while freshman setter Paris Perret dished out 52 scoring sets, her second-best showing as a Bulldog.

Newsome also shared match-honors in blocks with teammate Hannah Wilkinson (seven blocks) in an impressive Mississippi State showing at the net. While Georgia enjoyed a 77-66 edge in kills, the visiting Bulldogs amassed a 16-5 advantage in total team blocks.

A Kayla Woodard service ace and a pair of quick kills by Ashley Newsome staked State to a 3-1 opening set lead that would later expand to seven at 13-6. Georgia chipped away, knotting the score at 17-17 and, with a five-kill surge by Brittany Northcutt, built a lead out to 24-21. State fended off a trio of set-point serves before Georgia broke through with a 27-25 win.

State warmed up offensively in a closely-contested second set that was highlighted by 20 lead changes. Newsome rang up eight of MSU's 20 kills and State hit at a .405 clip in registering a match-evening 32-30 win. State scrambled back from a 24-21 deficit, tying the set on a Paris Perret service ace and notching the game-winner on a kill by Caitlin Rance.

MSU took the lead in the match with a solid 25-17 third set win. State forced 11 Georgia attack errors and never trailed. Wilkinson had four blocks and Newsome added two before closing out the set with her fourth and fifth kills of the stanza.

Georgia kept the match alive with a 25-20 win in the fourth stanza, with Kathleen Luft leading the surge with seven kills. After an error-prone third set, UGA hit at a match-best .412 clip with three attack errors to send the match to a deciding fifth set.

The see-saw affair continued in the final stanza, with the two Bulldog teams battling to a 10-10 deadlock before Danny McCree delivered a kill that opened a match-clinching 5-1 run for MSU. Freshman Iwa Belisario served up an ace, Newsome followed with a pair of kills and Rance ended the match with her 17th point-scoring swing of the afternoon.

State returns to action at the Newell-Grissom Building this weekend hosting SEC Eastern Division rival South Carolina Friday (7 p.m.) and No. 2-ranked Florida Sunday (1:30 p.m.).