Bulldogs Fall To Tigers in Five Set Heartbreaker

Wednesday, November 21

Auburn, Ala.

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

5-25, 1-16

Auburn

12-15, 5-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Mississippi State	23	25	24	25	12	2
Auburn	25	22	26	14	15	3

Bulldogs fall to Auburn in five set heartbreaker on Wednesday (Nov. 21) in Auburn Arena.

Bulldogs Fall To Tigers in Five Set Heartbreaker

November 21, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Mary Catherine Molay, Graduate Assistant/Communications

AUBURN, Ala.- In its second meeting of the season going to five sets once again, Mississippi State (5-25, 1-16 SEC) fell to Auburn (12-15, 5-12 SEC) in five on Wednesday (Nov. 21) in Auburn Arena.

Mississippi State fell to Auburn 23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-14, 12-15.

"Another impressive performance for the Bulldogs," head coach Julie Darty said. "I think that, every single time we get out there to compete, we get better. To me, that's very telling of how hard we work in practice and how dialed-in and focused this team is, even this late in the season. Amarrah had another big night—she's very low-error right now and putting up big block numbers for us so she has been very impressive of late.

"I think Paige had a breakout performance against Auburn, yet again, with a huge double-double for her. She was super efficient, hitting .304 for us, which is awesome for an outside hitter. Gabby Waden was another pleasant surprise who came on strong at the net. I thought her block was pretty disciplined and strong. We have some young players out there doing some big things and they're gaining a lot of good experience. It's really exciting to see that this group is still bought-in and still committed to getting better every single day. I'm excited to let my Dawgs out at Georgia and see what happens."

The first eight points of the match went in Auburn's favor as the Tigers capitalized on five kills and two errors to lead 7-1. Mississippi State found its groove and rallied back off of kills and errors. A challenge called by Darty allowed the Bulldogs to get another point to trail by one, 10-9. MSU fought back, but errors allowed for the Tigers to push ahead until a Darty timeout helped to rally the troops. The next five of the six points went in the Bulldogs' favor, as they were all errors. Mississippi State tied the score at 18. After that, both teams were neck-and-neck as there were 2 tied scores. MSU was not able to gain control of the lead, as Auburn won on a service error, 25-23. Amarrah Cooks tallied four kills for a .429 hitting percentage. Khristian Carr was not too far behind with two. MSU won the digs battle with 19 to Auburn's 17.

Similarly to the start of set one, Auburn was able to come out strong and take the 8-2 lead. The Dawgs were able to push back off of kills and errors. While down 13-7, Mississippi State went on a four-point spurt with two kills from Gabby Waden and back-to-back service aces by Paige Shaw to make it 13-11, Tigers. Back-to-back service aces by Gabby Zgunda allowed MSU to tie the score at 14. The Bulldogs kept on fighting to take the 20-18 lead with kills from Cooks and Shaw, which forced an Auburn timeout. Block assists by Deja Robinson and Waden secured the set for the Bulldogs, 25-22. Waden tallied four kills and two block assists. Carr and Shaw had two kills apiece. Shaw and Zgunda both had two service aces.

Mississippi State was first on the board after an Auburn attack error. The Tigers went on a four-point stint to push ahead 6-3. After another run by Auburn, Darty called a timeout to rally the Bulldogs and then notched three-straight points off of kills to be within two, 11-9. Shaw showed dominance at the net with three-straight kills and a solo block to put Mississippi State ahead 13-12. The score was back-and-forth until the end of the set as there were 14 tied scores and 5 lead changes. Auburn came back to win in extras, 26-24. Shaw tallied five kills and one solo block. Carr and Cooks had three kills apiece. Morgan Kath had 13 assists. Zgunda notched eight digs.

The Bulldogs went on a 3-0 stint to start the set. While tied at 5, MSU went on a five-point run off of the next six points to extend its lead to 10-6. After the streak, MSU capitalized off of Auburn errors to cushion a six-point lead at 18-12. It was all Mississippi State from there as the Tigers could not stop MSU's attack game . The Bulldogs went on to force set five off of five-straight points. Shaw had seven kills on nine attempts for a .778 hitting percentage. Cooks notches three blocks and kills.

Auburn took a 4-1 lead in the beginning of the fifth set. Mississippi State rallied to six before the bench change at 8-6. The Bulldogs were being very detailed and made good calls to benefit from Auburn errors to get within one to force an Auburn timeout, 13-12. A service ace by Auburn ended the set, as the Tigers won 15-12.

Mississippi State travels to Athens for its last match of the 2018 season. First serve against Georgia is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+ on Friday (Nov. 23).

Dawg Bites from Wednesday

Robinson tallied five total blocks. That puts her in 5th place for most total blocks as a freshman with 86. She is 6 blocks away from equaling Nicole Palazzo (2005) with 92.
Cooks notched two solo blocks. She's now in a tie for most solo blocks in an individual season with Jennifer Koutnik (1995) at the No. 3 spot with 35. She is eight solo blocks away from the No. 2 spot tying Edwina Anthony(1985) with 43.
Kath etched 57 assists. That brings her career assists total to 1,626, placing her in the No. 8 spot. She is 214 away from tying Blossom Sato(2015-2016) with 1,840.
Shaw had 46 attack attempts. She's now No. 7 for most attack attempts as a freshman. She is 23 away from accompanyingSara Maddox(2017) in the No. 6 spot with 842.
Shaw notched 19 kills and 17 digs to give her the first double-double of her career.
Zgunda had 21 digs.
Carr tallied 12 kills and two blocks.
Cooks had 15 kills and nine blocks. She also had a .364 hitting percentage.
Mississippi State won the battle at the net with a .258 hitting percentage to Auburn's .223.

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