Mississippi State
7-26, 2-16SEC
Auburn
13-18, 5-13SEC
Bulldog Volleyball Drops 2014 Season Finale To Auburn
November 29, 2014 | Volleyball
Auburn, Ala. – Taking the court for the final time in 2014, the Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs (7-26, 2-16 SEC) dropped a three-set decision to the Auburn Tigers (13-18, 5-13 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at Auburn Arena.
Auburn opened up play in strong fashion, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and eventually pushing it to 8-2. A 6-2 run capped by two AU aces forced an MSU timeout and catalyzed a Tiger run that would put the set in their favor. AU would go on to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a first set victory of 25-14.
The second set would be a tighter contest, as neither squad would gain a lead of more than three until late. State jumped ahead 9-6 off of kills from Emily Howard and Chelsea Duhs and would hold that lead until a 7-2 rally from the Tigers put them in front, 16-13. MSU would pull it as close as one late in the frame, but couldn't earn the equalizer. AU strung together a 6-2 stretch late to take the second frame, 25-20.
MSU jumped out of the gate quick in the third set, taking a 3-1 lead capped by a kill from senior Kelsey Stommes. The Tigers would roar back into the lead, going up by as much as four midway through. State would draw itself within one several times, but Auburn would utilize a 5-1 run through the media timeout to create space. AU would maintain the lead, pulling away to take the third set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.
Leading MSU was Duhs, who turned in 11 kills, helping her eclipse the 300-kill mark to finish the season with 306. Shelby Anderton led the Bulldogs with 21 assists, capping her junior year with 750 assists.
Payton Harris put together 20 digs on the day, earning her 22nd match this year with 20-plus digs. Harris finishes the season with 725 total digs, falling five short of tying the SEC single-season record held by LSU's Elena Martinez in 2007.
Harris caps her All-SEC Freshman season with the most single-season digs in school history, becoming the first player for MSU volleyball to crack 700 digs for a season. She also stands as only the second player in league history to break the 700 mark.
MSU caps the season with 1,913 digs and a 16.35 per set average, both which lead the Southeastern Conference.
Leading MSU's blocking performance was Duhs and Howard, who each earned three against the Tigers.
Auburn was led by Stephanie Campbell, who earned a match-high 16 kills. Alexa Filley tallied 43 assists to lead all players.
Alex Warren caps the season leading MSU with 311 kills, while Anderton finishes leading State with 750 assists. Harris finishes the season leading MSU with 32 aces and 720 digs and Bali Leffall-Young tops the Bulldog block with 84.
The only business remaining for the Bulldogs is the AVCA awards, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information and updates on Mississippi State volleyball, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateVB.
