Dawgs Split Matches on Day One of Jaguar Invitational

Friday, September 7

Mobile, Ala.

9:30 AM

Mississippi State

3-5

Louisiana Tech

1-7

Louisiana Tech

Mississippi State

Bulldogs split matches to open Jaguar Invitational

Dawgs Split Matches on Day One of Jaguar Invitational

September 07, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BOX SCORE (PDF) - Louisiana Tech BOX SCORE (PDF) - South Alabama

by Mary Catherine Molay, Graduate Assistant/Communications

MOBILE, Ala. - After an impressive performance to start the day versus Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State fell short to close out the day against South Alabama.

MSU swept Louisiana Tech, 25-11, 25-13, 25-21, in the first match. South Alabama swept MSU, 19-25, 19-25, 22-25.

"Today was a tough day," first year coach Julie Darty said. "This morning we came out with a different energy than we had in the second match. We always have to win the serve and pass game and be the team that wins the transition game, and that wasn't us tonight. This morning, I felt like it was a step in the right direction with our sweep against Louisiana Tech, but we haven't hit the full consistency yet. This morning we were a gritty, defensive team digging a lot of balls. Tonight, we weren't. It's just that simple and we have to figure it out. I know we will."

Match one vs. Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech scored the first two points to get the match started before MSU went on to a seven-point scoring streak, including kills from Taylor Haskins, Amarrah Cooks, AJ Koele and a service ace from Deja Robinson. Mississippi State never trailed from that point, as they went on to blow past the Lady Techsters. Alleah Stamatis had two service aces and Cooks registered a .556 hitting percentage with six kills. Koele and Haskins had four kills apiece. Morgan Kath and Kanani Price each had six digs.

Set two played out similarly to set one as Mississippi State dominated Louisiana Tech. In the middle of the set, it was close with two points being the dividing factor as MSU lead 14-12. A kill by Kath started a eight-point run from the Bulldogs to push the lead to 22-12, and was able to sideout the victory. Robinson had a .750 hitting percentage with three kills and she added two blocks. Khristian Carr also had three kills. Price led the team with five digs. Once again, Stamatis had two service aces.

Louisiana Tech came out fighting in the third set as they held a 5-1 advantage, largely thanks to three service aces by Jordyn Carswell. A back-and-forth ensued before Darty called a timeout to rally her team together as they were down 16-11. From then on, MSU took control of the set and tied it up at 19 all. Six of the next eight points were in the Bulldogs' favor with kills from Paige Shaw and Koele. MSU also capitalized on Louisiana Tech's errors to take the set and the match in a sweep. Shaw hit .429 with three kills on seven hits. Koele hit .600 on three kills and five swings. Kath, Kendall Murr and Gabby Zgunda each tallied four digs.

"It's nice to come out and play well as a team," Darty said. "Across the board we were just playing good, clean volleyball, and we controlled the pace in sets one and two. We let up a little bit in the third set and we got a little too comfortable, but we responded well when we went down and had to fight back to finish the match 3-0.

"I'm proud of our defense," Darty continued. "We continue to play hard and just get after it back there. When we focus on the serve and pass game and then focus on winning the transition game, we really put ourselves in a good position. It's still all about finding that consistent play for longer periods of time. We are leveling off and I think the level of play is getting better. I'm proud of our team today."

Match two vs. South Alabama

A kill by South Alabama started off the match and for the majority of the set neither team had more than a three point lead. MSU struggled to control USA's attack game, as the Jaguars went on to push ahead 17-14. MSU errors and USA kills pushed South Alabama ahead to take the set . Haskins and Carr had four kills each. Kath added 10 assists. Zgunda and Murr both had three digs.

Mississippi State opened up a 7-0 lead to start the second set. The lead did not hold for long, as South Alabama came back with nine of the next 11 points to tie it at 9-9 after a service error by Zgunda. A one-point set ensued afterwards until USA strung together a few kills in to extend its lead. Attack errors and kills went in the Jaguars' favor as they went on to take set two. Cooks hit .500 with three kills. Carr, Haskins and Koele had two kills each.

The set stared off tied after a kill from Cooks, and it was tied a total of 15times, with with each squad benefitted from kills and errors. South Alabama went on a five-point spurt late in the set to grab a 21-18 and increase the urgency for the Dawgs. After a Darty timeout, MSU went on to score four points in a row to take the 22-21 lead with three kills from Haskins and a service ace from Robinson. The Jaguars responded with four points of their own to win the set. Haskins had five kills and Koele had four. Kath attributed 13 assists, and Murr had eight digs.

"South Alabama deserves a lot of credit," Darty explained. "They're a physically, talented team that had a great game plan and stuck to it. I am still trying to get us to play consistent volleyball on our side of the net. If we can continue to grow and get better with each opportunity, it will eventually be something that we can do. We were not the better team tonight, and we have to accept that. I am confident that we can respond and take care of business in the last match of the weekend tomorrow."

The Bulldogs have one match tomorrow to close out the Jaguar Invitational. Mississippi State faces Southeastern Louisiana at Noon. This will be the 10th meeting between the two squads.

Mississippi State vs. Southeastern Louisiana - Saturday, Sept. 8 at Noon

Live Stats: https://hailst.at/2Ni9Y0g

Dawg Bites from Friday

Cooks had 11 kills against Louisiana Tech accompanied by two blocks
Kath had her third double-double of the season with 28 assists and 14 digs. She also tallied three kills
Shaw had a .375 hitting percentage with three kills.
Stamatis had four service aces
Price and Murr both had 12 digs
As a team, MSU led in kills (40-22), hitting percentage (.302 - .019), assists (33-19), digs (54-28) and total blocks (4.0-3.0).
Haskins had 11 kills against South Alabama
Kath had 28 kills against South Alabama
Cooks had six kills and three blocks
Robinson had three kills, three digs and two service aces

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