Bulldogs Split Matches on Opening Weekend

Friday, August 24

Starkville

11:00 AM

Mississippi State

1-0

Mississippi Valley State

0-1

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Miss. Valley State	19	13	13	0
Mississippi State	25	25	25	3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
ULM	25	25	21	25	3
Mississippi State	19	23	25	22	1

MSU splits pair of matches of the StarkVegas Classic on Friday

Bulldogs Split Matches on Opening Weekend

August 24, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF) Match 1 Box Score (PDF) Match 2

STARKVILLE- Starting and closing out the first day of the StarkVegas Classic, the Mississippi State volleyball program split its matches at Newell-Grissom on Friday (Aug. 24).

Match one against Mississippi Valley State was decided in a three-set sweep (25-19, 25-13, 25-13), but the night cap against Louisiana-Monroe took four sets as the Warhawks defeated the Bulldogs (19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 22-25).

"I think today was the beginning of a lot growing pains," first-year head coach Julie Darty said. "I think we have a lot of young players and fresh faces out there that are trying to figure out who they are as students and athletes. A lot of jitters and nerves came into effect on day one. Tonight, getting that first loss, I'm interested to see how we respond tomorrow. We have two more matches this weekend to try and figure out a lineup that works, and get some people confident and feeling good in their own skin again."

MSU kicked off its 2018 campaign against Mississippi Valley State with a sweep. The one hour and 12 minute match had scores of 25,19, 25-13 and 25-13. Graduate transfer Taylor Haskins had seven kills on 17 attempts to lead the team with a .412 hitting percentage. Gabby Zgunda led the team with 19 digs and junior Alleah Stamatis tallied 19 assists.

"This morning was a great win. I think it was a great way to start the season with a 3-0 win on our home court," Darty said. "We try to protect our home court when we can."

With a seven-hour window between matches, the Bulldogs were able to rest up before their second contest of the day against Louisiana-Monroe.

Set one was back-and-forth between the two. MSU went on a three-point run toward the beginning of the set, but it ended in a win for the Warhawks, 25-19. Zgunda accumulated five figs while Deja Robinson and Khristian Carr combined for both block assists to give the Bulldogs a total of 2.0 team blocks.

The second set was challenging as MSU struggled to find its groove in the early half of the set. Back-to-back aces by Zgunda helped the Bulldogs get back into it as a two-point match ensued. Paige Shaw had seven kills on 17 attempts as well as three digs, but Louisiana-Monroe ended up taking the set, 25-23.

Similarly to set one, set three featured the same back-and-forth action. Mississippi State reeled off five-straight points to give them the lead at 23-19. Amarrah Cooks and Laura Rose Gray tallied three kills each on five attempts in the set. The Bulldogs won the battle of the net with 3.0 blocks, as a kill by Haskins secured the win for the bulldogs, 25-21, forcing set four.

Defense was key for the Bulldogs as they held a 22-16 edge in digs in the fourth set. Murr, Morgan Kath and Zgunda each had a service ace and Haskins earned 4.0 points on four kills. ULM led the set in blocks with 8.0 that helped ULM push ahead to take the set and the match, 25-22.

"We saw a lot of good stuff from a lot of players, and some out of character moments for some other kids, but they will bounce back and be better tomorrow," Darty said. "But at the end of the day, we knew that this year would be a lot of figuring things out. We brought in 11 new players with seven old players. Together we are 18 awesome players for 2018. But at the end of the day, there is a lot of new styles of play, new coaches and new players. Everything is so new, which makes us out of our comfort zone, and we are not comfortable there yet.

"It was nice to have the support of all our fans. I saw a lot of them that were at Volleyball 101, so they knew the rules and were cheering at the right time. I thought it was awesome, I was very excited to see this many people in The Griss tonight."

Opening weekend will continue Saturday as Mississippi State host day two of the StarkVegas Classic. MSU will play Georgia State at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, the Bulldogs cap off the tournament facing Cal Baptist at 11 a.m. in Newell-Grissom. Both matches will air on the SEC Network +.

Dawg Bites

A total of 1,718 people attended the two Mississippi State matches on Friday.
Zgunda had a total of five service aces on Friday, including four during the match against Louisiana-Monroe.
Zgunda accumulated 42 digs on the opening day of the season.
Cooks tallied 17 kills and had 21.0 points on Friday.
Shaw had 19 kills on Friday.
Haskins had 17 kills and 12 digs on Friday.
The team recorded a total of 17.0 blocks on Friday.

For more information on Mississippi State volleyball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateVB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."