MSU To Open Road Swing Friday at Appalachian Invitational

Friday, August 31

Boone, N.C.

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

Clemson

Mississippi State heads to Boone, North Carolina, for its first road trip of the season.

MSU To Open Road Swing Friday at Appalachian Invitational

August 30, 2018 | Volleyball

Live Stats - Appalachian State Live Stats - Clemson Live Stats - Davidson Watch ESPN+ - Appalachian State

by Mary Catherine Molay, Graduate Assistant

STARKVILLE - After opening weekend in StarkVegas, Mississippi State (1-3) travels to Boone, North Carolina, for its first road trip of the season.

The Bulldogs will take the court once on Friday facing Clemson (1-2) at 3 p.m. CT. On Saturday, MSU will face Davidson (2-1) at 9 a.m. and host Appalachian State (3-0) at 6 p.m.

"We are excited to go on our first trip of the season, and I look forward to playing three talented teams up in North Carolina this weekend," first-year coach Julie Darty said. "I felt like last weekend was a big reality check for our team to figure out what we need to continue to focus and work on as a group. We are going to continue to preach to the team that it's about the process for us right now. If we can trust the process and learn to trust each other, then the product will be something that we can truly be proud of."

This will mark the fourth meeting between Clemson and MSU. Clemson leads the series 3-0, and the teams last met in 2007 at Newell-Grissom. Mississippi State faces Appalachian State and Davidson for the first time in program history.

Mississippi State travels to its first non-conference away tournament of the season in Boone, N.C. The team will face host Appalachian State, Clemson and Davidson. The only match that will be broadcasted will be against Appalachian State. The match will be on ESPN+, which is a subscription-based ESPN affiliate.

Appalachian State Invitational Schedule
Mississippi State vs. Clemson - Friday, Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. CT

Live Stats: https://hailst.at/2wvv8hg

Mississippi State vs. Davidson - Saturday, Sept. 1 at 9 a.m. CT

Live Stats: https://hailst.at/2wyR5fn

Mississippi State at Appalachian State - Saturday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. CT

Live Stats: https://hailst.at/2BYoZjr
Watch ESPN+: https://hailst.at/2wvbba7

Bulldogs Face Clemson for the Fourth Time in Program History ...
State faces off against Clemson during its first game in the Tarheel State. This is the fourth meeting between the two teams as Clemson holds the 3-0 advantage. In neutral sites, Clemson is 2-0. The last time the two faced one another was in Starkville on Aug. 26, 2007 where Clemson took the match, 3-1. Attacker Adria Oliver has 28 kills and a .345 hitting percentage. Setter Gabby Easton has 104 assists and averages 10.4 assists a set.

Scouting Davidson ...
MSU's second opponent in the tournament are the Davidson Wildcats. This will mark the first meeting between the two teams. Attacker Hatti Rodriguez has 28 kills and a .357 hitting percentage after the first week of play. The Wildcats switch between two setters, Sy Champagne and Mason Rooney, who had a combined total of 97 assists.

MSU Battles Host Appalachian State ...
The third and final foe of the weekend is host Appalachian State. This is the second team in the tournament that MSU has never faced. Emma Reilly leads the team with 34 digs in nine sets played. Attacker Kara Spicer has 21 kills on 44 attempts for a .364 hitting percentage.

Zgunda "digs" it done ...
Gabby Zgunda turned in an impressive freshman campaign in 2017, becoming a reliable libero for the Maroon and White. The Muncie, Indiana, native finished eighth all-time for most digs by a freshman with 275, which was also second-most on the team. This season, she currently ranks 1st in the SEC and 35th overall with 64 digs.

Transfer Quartet Stands Out in Week One ...
Four new faces on the squad are no stranger to the college game. Graduate transfer Taylor Haskins joins the fold after playing three seasons in Texas (2 at Texas Tech, 1 at North Texas). A trio of Bulldogs come to MSU after earning significant experience at Jacksonville--juniors Amarrah Cooks and Alleah Stamatis and sophomore libero Kendall Murr.

Cooks tallied 28 kills and ranks 5th in the SEC and 98th in the NCAA with 14 toal blocks. Stamatis recorded 39 digs and one service ace. She also had three double doubles with 10 digs and 19 assists against MVSU, 12 digs and 27 assists against Louisiana-Monroe and 11 digs and 18 assists against Georgia State. Haskins also had double-digit digs with 36, and she also had 29 kills. Murr averaged 4.00 digs per set with a total of 56 on the weekend. She ranks 5th in the SEC and 68th overall.

Morgan Kath earns her first double double of the season ...
Kath tallied 10 digs and 11 assists against Georgia State on Aug. 26 at the StarkVegas Classic.

Hoosiers in StarkVegas ...
Four players on the 2018 roster hail from the state of Indiana (Gabby Zgunda, Kendall Murr, Kanani Price and Liv Benner). The Hoosier State is the most represented state on the squad.

Who's Leading the Bulldogs? ...
Kills: AJ Koele, 30
Kills Per Set: AJ Koele, 2.14
Assists: Alleah Stamatis, 76
Service Aces: Gabby Zgunda, 5
Digs: Gabby Zgunda, 64
Block Solos: Amarrah Cooks, 5
Block Assists: Deja Robinson, 10
Total Blocks: Amarrah Cooks, 14
Points: Amarrah Cooks, 38.5

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