Bulldogs’ Season Ends In Four-Setter At Georgia

Friday, November 23

Athens, Ga.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

5-25, 1-16

Georgia

14-14, 5-12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Mississippi State	25	22	31	13	1
Georgia	19	25	33	25	3

MSU falls in four to Georgia to close out the 2018 season on Friday (Nov. 23).

Photo by: Blake Williams/MSU Athletics

Bulldogs’ Season Ends In Four-Setter At Georgia

November 23, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Mary Catherine Molay, Graduate Assistant/Communications

ATHENS, Ga.- After a tough battle on the court, Mississippi State (5-26 (1-17 SEC) fell to Georgia (15-14, 6-12 SEC) in four in the final match of the 2018 season.

Mississippi State fell to Georgia 25-19, 22-25, 31-33, 13-25.

"What a year for the Dawgs," head coach Julie Darty said. "I felt like we finished the year playing some super gritty volleyball. That third set tonight, to me, was the definition of maturity and growing up. I think we went through our fair share of growing pains early on and we really just gutted it out tonight. This is a great foundation in Year One for us to build upon. I want to thank Khris [Carr], Taylor [Haskins] and Morgan [Kath] for their contributions to the program. I can't thank them enough for helping us build the foundation, change the culture and trust this process. As a whole, I think this was such a great match for some of our young kids. I think it's a lot for us to build off of and I'm just so excited for the future of Bulldog Volleyball."

A service error by Georgia put Mississippi State on the board first to start the match. The rest of the set was tight for the remainder of the match as there were 11 ties and six score changes. While trailing 9-8, Mississippi State went on a 3-0 run off of two kills and an error to take the 11-9 lead and bring some momentum to the court. MSU led by as many as three points before Georgia went on a three-point stint to tie the frame at 17. From there, eight of the last 10 points went in MSU's favor, as MSU went on a 6-0 run to win the set with a service ace by Kendall Murr. Deja Robinson, Paige Shaw and Gabby Waden tallied three kills. Morgan Kath had nine assists, two kills and three blocks. MSU won the battle of the net with 5.0 to Georgia's 0.0 blocks.

A kill by Amarrah Cooks got the second set going for both Bulldogs. While down by three, Mississippi State rallied back to take the score at 12-11 off of UGA errors and MSU kills. Before the media timeout, Mississippi State went on a three-point streak off of kills from Shaw and Cooks to push ahead to 15-13. Georgia went on a four-point run to take the lead at 20-18 before a kill by Waden helped stop UGA's run game. With it being set point Georgia, Mississippi State capitalized on two errors by UGA. The rally was not enough as Georgia went on to win the set, 25-22. Shaw tallied five kills. Alleah Stamatis and Murr had four digs apiece.

UGA opened up with a two-point stint to start the third set. Mississippi State rallied back to tie the set at three, but fell behind after two separate three point runs from Georgia to trail 9-5. MSU went on a rally of four points to tie the set at 11 and force a timeout by UGA. The rest of the set was back-and-forth, as either team led by no more than two points. While tied at 19 and after a Darty timeout, Mississippi State had three-straight points to take the 22-19 lead. While it was MSU set point, UGA rallied back to force the set into extras. After a competitive ending, UGA took the set on a kill, 33-31. Robinson had six kills while Cooks notched in five. MSU won from the net with a .356 to UGA's .320 hitting percentage.

Georgia's attack game was tough for Mississippi State as UGA quickly took the 9-3 advantage. MSU struggled to catch back up as it was all Georgia for the remainder of the set. Mississippi State was able to get on the board for some kills and errors, but ended up falling to Georgia, 25-13. MSU had 2.0 blocks to UGA's 1.0.

Dawg Bites from Friday ...

Robinson tallied eight total blocks. That puts her in 3rd place with Shauna Owens (1988) for most total blocks as a freshman with 94.
Robinson notched six block assists. She's now in 6th place for most block assists as a freshman with 70.
Robinson tallied two solo blocks. That puts her in 2nd place for most solo blocks as a freshman accompanying Michelle Whitby (1986) with 24.
Kath etched 35 assists. That brings her career assists total to 1,661, placing her in the No. 8 spot.
Shaw had 39 attack attempts. She's now No. 6 for most attack attempts as a freshman.
Robinson had 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage
Shaw tallied 12 kills
Cooks etched 11 kills and three blocks
Zgunda had 14 digs, while Stamatis had 10
MSU had 12.0 blocks to UGA's 2.0

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