Mississippi State
6-0
Louisiana Tech
3-4
Rance-Led Dogs Claim UTA Maverick Invitational
September 04, 2010 | Volleyball
It's the best start for the Volleyball bulldogs since the 2005 MSU team opened with nine consecutive wins.
“We saw a great team effort this weekend, especially in tonight's final match against a solid Texas Arlington team,” said second-year Bulldog head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “This team is learning how to find a way to win. Right now we're battling through some adversity --- first losing Faith (Steinwedell) and now with several other minor injuries on the team. But we're learning how to fight and to deal with those adversities.”
Junior outside hitter Caitlin Rance and senior libero Kayla Woodard represented Mississippi State on the all-tournament team. Rance piled up 47 kills (4.70 k/s) and five blocks while Woodard delivered 62 digs in three matches.
Rance set a career-high with 25 kills and hit .379 in the tournament finale while senior Ashley Newsome had a season-best 22 kills with six blocks on a .357 hitting night. “They were amazing, and a freshman, Iwa Belisario, did an incredible job of helping our hitters know where to attack,” added Hazelwood.
The Mavericks broke away from a 12-12 deadlock in cruising to a 25-18 winin the opening set. Tara Frantz, who led UTA with 11 kills, and Edl-hah Kaswatuka, who piled up 10 kills on the night, ignited the run for Texas Arlington.
But the Bulldogs warmed up on offense with .341 hitting in the second stanza led throughout much of the remainder of the match. Freshman Dani McCree and junior Kellye Jordan had seven kills each. State placed four defenders in double figures in digs. Kayla Woodard had a match-high 21, Iwa Belisario added a season-best 19, Paris Perret had 14 and Kellye Jordan 12.
State started slowly but finished with a flurry in registering the win over Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs extended their season-opening win streak to six matches, longest since the Volleyball Bulldogs opened the 2005 campaign with a run of nine consecutive wins. State faces tournament host Texas Arlington for the title in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. tourney finale.
Junior outside Caitlin Rance registered her third double-double of the young season, sharing match kills honors (11) with senior teammate Ashley Newsome while tallying 10 digs.
Helped along by four early State attack errors, Louisiana Tech raced to a 5-1 edge in the opening set and held a 20-18 advantage deep into the stanza. But MSU got a pair of kills each from Rance and Mandy Mellencamp to close with a 7-1 spree, capped by a set-winning service ace by SEC Freshman Player of the Week Paris Perret. Newsome tallied seven of her 11 kills in the opening set.
MSU's Bulldogs trailed only briefly in the early going of the second set. But the Bulldog offense got on a roll, reeling off 10 straight points as State rode a match-best .292 attack percentage to a 25-12 win.
Seven different Bulldogs registered kills in the third set as State pulled away from a 5-5 deadlock to close out the match with a convincing 25-16 win.
The Bulldogs amassed a 39-24 advantage in kills and a 62-54 edge in digs, with Kayla Woodard leading the way with a match-high 23. Kellye Jordan, making her first start of the season, registered a career-high 14 digs to back her 3-kill, 3-block performance. Newsome paced MSU at the net with five total blocks, including her 57th career solo block that moved her to sixth place on State's all-time career list.
Sophomore defensive specialist Kelsey Nichols made her season debut in the match, becoming the 11th Bulldog player to hit the court in game competition this fall.
State concludes its early-season fall tournament schedule next weekend competing in the SIU Saluki Invitational Sept. 10-11 in Carbondale, Ill.
