Mississippi State
8-3
Southern Miss
7-4
USM Registers Straight Sets Win Over State
September 15, 2010 | Volleyball
The Golden Eagles hit at a .358 clip and rode an impressive 19-kill, .325 hitting performance by Ashley Mell to the win, their third straight over the Bulldogs. USM held an edge in virtually every statistical category, leading in kills 51-35, digs 45-37 and total team blocks 5-3.
Baker was impressive for State, hitting a career-best .692 with 13 kills and one attack error in 19 attempts. Junior Caitlin Rance (Kingwood, Texas), the team's kills leader for the season, followed with 11 kills.
The Bulldogs opened the match with a quick 4-1 burst. Ashley Newsome (Florence, Ala.) delivered a trio of quick kills and freshman Iwa Belisario (Ankeny, Iowa) served up an ace. State maintained its edge for much of the first stanza before Mell and teammate Halie Ecker ignited a USM surge that lifted the homestanding Golden Eagles to a 25-18 opening set win. Mell rang up seven kills and Ecker five more for USM.
USM used 4-0 and 6-0 runs midway in the second set to pull away from a tight battle in a 25-16 win, and then reeled off four straight points to clinch a 25-18 third set decision. Baker drilled six kills and Rance added five more to keep the Bulldogs in contention until late in the final set. Newsome, after leading MSU with five kills in the opening set, was limited to one kill over the final two sets.
Senior libero Kayla Woodard (Addison, Ala.) tallied six digs to move into State's career top 10. She has now piled up 1,097 digs in four seasons, moving past Tanika Taylor (2000-2003) into10th place among Mississippi State's all-time career leaders.
The Bulldogs wrap up their season-longest run of eight consecutive road matches and launch their 2010 SEC schedule Sunday in Oxford, Miss., against Ole Miss (6-3). The 1 p.m. match at UM's Gillom Center will be televised live regionally on New Orleans-based Cox Sports TV.
