Bulldogs Fall in Heartbreaking Five Set Thriller

Friday, August 31

Boone, N.C.

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

1-4

Clemson

2-2

Clemson

Mississippi State

Bulldogs fall in five set thriller to Clemson on Friday.

Photo by: Blake Williams/MSU Athletics

Bulldogs Fall in Heartbreaking Five Set Thriller

August 31, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Mary Catherine Molay, Graduate Assistant/Communications

BOONE, N.C. - Communication and effort were both present for Mississippi State in the five set heartbreaking thriller loss to Clemson to open the Appalachian State Invitational on Friday.

The Bulldogs (1-4) fell to the Tigers (2-3) 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 29-27, 13-15.

"I can't say enough about our gutsy and gritty performance tonight," first year coach Julie Darty said. "I'm so proud of how this team came to battle and never ever gave up. I think we scratched the surface of knowing what we are capable of. I feel like there is no looking back now. If we continue to trust the process and serve and pass at that level, we will continue to figure some stuff out and move in the right direction."

A service ace by Deja Robinson got it rolling for the Bulldogs in the first set. Mississippi State then went on a three point streak all made up of kills from Amarrah Cooks, Khristian Carr and Morgan Kath. A kills battle ensued as a total of 29 kills were recorded. Robinson collected two kills on two attempts. Cooks was not far behind her with three kills on four attempts. Mississippi State led in team blocks 2.0 to 1.0, and senior Morgan Kath had 10 assists.

Mississippi State took a 3-0 lead that included a service ace from Taylor Haskins. The communication continued on the court as the Bulldogs extended its lead to eight after a six point streak, 18-10. A service ace from Alleah Stamatis accompanied by a kill from Paige Shaw and errors from Clemson made it 24-16 Bulldogs. AJ Koele recorded three kills on four attempts, and Murr had seven digs. Clemson fought back for four straight points, but a kill by Cooks secured the set win for the Bulldogs.

MSU got off to a rocky start as Clemson took an early 4-1 lead. The Bulldogs then rallied back to make it 16-16 after another service ace by Robinson. Mississippi State showed a lot of grit and intensity to bring the lead within one for the latter half of the set. Carr and Shaw both tallied four kills apiece. Haskins and Murr both had five digs. Ultimately, Clemson rallied to win the set.

A kill by Koele got the set started as Clemson proceeded to go on a five point streak, 5-1. Back-to-back kills by Carr gave MSU the momentum it was lacking in the set to bring it to an intense, back-and-forth set. The set slowly turned into a thriller as we went into extras. Carr tallied six kills and behind her was Shaw with five. Kath recorded 15 assists. Another round of back-to-back kills by Carr secured the win for the Bulldogs.

The final set started off with a Clemson advantage as they went up 6-2. Darty called a timeout to calm down her squad. After the timeout, MSU rallied back to get back into the set. Carr had four more kills and Murr had eight digs; however, the comeback was simply not enough as Clemson went on to take the set and the match.

"Kanani Price is a spark plug off the bench," Darty said. "Carr had an awesome night. I moved Carr to the outside and she responded well. Everybody just did a great job playing without fear."

The Bulldogs are back in action for the last day of the Appalachian State Invitational facing Davidson at 9 a.m. CT and Appalachian State at 6 p.m. CT. The two matchups are the first meetings ever between both teams. Streaming for the Appalachian State game will be on ESPN+, which is a subscription-based ESPN affiliate.

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

Dawg Bites

Carr tallied 18 kills
Shaw recorded a career-high 15 kills
Cooks and Koele both had career-high 12 kills apiece.
Kath had 54 assists and 10 digs
Murr led the team with 31 digs
Robinson a career breaking nine kills, two service aces and three block solos.
Haskins (1), Kath (1), Robinson (2) and Stamatis (1) tallied five service aces
As a team, Mississippi State led with 85 digs and 9.0 total blocks

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."