Mississippi State
14-15, 3-12SEC
South Carolina
12-16, 5-10SEC
Bulldogs Fall In Straight Sets At South Carolina
November 21, 2015 | Volleyball
COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the first of their final two road matches of the year, the Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs (14-15, 3-12 SEC) dropped a 3-0 decision to the South Carolina Gamecocks (12-16, 5-10 SEC) Friday night.
Alex Warren led MSU with 12 kills on the night, but it was not enough, as State was only able to fire a .098 attacking percentage on the night. The Gamecocks tallied a .350 clip and also won the kills battle with 39 to MSU's 34 to take the match.
The Gamecocks never fired below .300 in a set to pace their offensive flow. USC jumped out of the gates quickly in the first, shutting down MSU and pushing its lead to as high as nine, 19-10. State managed to cut the lead to five, but would come no close, dropping the first set, 25-18.
MSU kept play close as the second frame got underway, but a 6-1 Gamecock run pushed the home squad ahead for good. State would be held to a sub-.100 clip, as USC took a 25-16 second-set win and 2-0 lead in the match.
State turned in its best offensive performance in the match's final set, winning the kills battle, 13-12. However, a handful of errors coupled with a .455 USC attacking percentage put the Bulldogs in danger of dropping the match in straight sets. MSU would rally late, drawing within four several times, but could not close the gap more than that, dropping the set, 25-19, and the set, 3-0.
Evie Grace Singleton (8 kills) and the combo of Chelsea Duhs and Jazmyne Johnson (6 kills each) rounded out State's offense. The Bulldog setting duo of Shelby Anderton and Blossom Sato combined for 33 assists, with Anderton pacing the team with 20.
Sarah Blomgren topped all players with 14 kills, while Aubrey Ezell earned a match-high 33 assists.
MSU earned 3.0 blocks in the match, with six different Bulldogs earning a block assist. South Carolina led the blocking battle with 7.0 total, as Darian Dozier led all players with 4 block assists on the night.
Payton Harris tallied a match-high 11 digs, drawing her 59 short of tying Heather Schilling (1992-95) for ninth place in MSU career digs.
Ezell also topped the Gamecocks in digs, adding 10 digs to her 33 assists for a double-double.
MSU closes out road play for the 2015 season on Sunday at Georgia. First serve for the SEC Network match is set for 5 p.m. CT, at the Ramsey Student Center. After Sunday, MSU will close out the season at Newell-Grissom against LSU (Wednesday, Nov. 25) and Ole Miss (Friday, Nov. 27).
For more information and updates on Mississippi State volleyball, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateVB.
