Mississippi State Volleyball Concludes 2019 Season

Saturday, November 30

Starkville

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

13-17,2-16SEC

Tennessee

15-13,9-9SEC

Tennessee

Mississippi St.

Mississippi State Volleyball Concludes 2019 Season

November 30, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By Austin Coats, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State volleyball played the final match of its 2019 season on Saturday in the Newell Grissom Building, falling to Tennessee (15-13, 8-10 SEC) in three sets.

The Bulldogs finished with a 13-17 record in year two of the Julie Darty era, a notable improvement from the 5-26 mark a year ago.

Senior setter Alleah Stamatis picked up her 1,000th assist of the season in Saturday's match, becoming the first Bulldog since 2011 to reach 1,000 assists in a single season, and the seventh MSU student-athlete all-time. She totaled 1,016 total assists in 2019.

Stamatis and three more Bulldogs closed their careers in Maroon & White on Saturday. Seniors Stamatis and Amarrah Cooks and early-graduating juniors Kanani Price and Gabby Zgunda appeared at The Griss for the final time as student-athletes.

"We talk a lot about leaving it better than we found it," MSU volleyball coach Julie Darty said. "Our four departing student-athletes have certainly done that. I'm forever grateful that we've taken such big strides in the right direction this season. From a record standpoint, it's been really cool to see us learn how to win and get more wins under our belt so that we can change the culture here and change who we are at Mississippi State.

"I'm so proud that Alleah was able to get her 1,000th assist today. This has been a breakthrough season for Alleah both in her leadership and her game across the board."

Amarrah Cooks will finish as one of the most efficient attackers in Mississippi State volleyball history. The senior's two-year .303 hitting rate sets a new MSU record for career hitting percentage, blowing away the previous mark of .279, held by Aimee York and Rozena Russell. Cooks' 2019 average, .316, sits tied for fourth with Tina Seals (Formerly Tina Burcham) on the single-season charts, while her .290 hitting percentage in 2018 now ranks tied for eighth with Russell.

Mississippi State's 2019 campaign opened with six straight wins on the way to an 11-1 record before the start of conference play, its best start to a season since 2005.

The Bulldogs increased their SEC win total with a season sweep of Auburn. Three five-set thrillers in conference play could have gone either way but slipped out of the hands of MSU.

"Today wasn't our most offensively dominate performance, but I think that the message on the bench was to never stop fighting and never give up," Darty said. "From the first weekend we played until now, that has been the mainstay of this team. We just don't stop. There's a lot of grit, and there's a lot of resolve. I'm excited about the growth that we've had this year and what we're going to do in 2020."

First Set (Tennessee 25, Mississippi State 10)

The Lady Volunteers opened with a 5-0 run and used the early momentum to cruise to a first set victory.

Second Set (Tennessee 25, Mississippi State 18)

Mississippi State fought back in the second set, going punch-for-punch early. A Tennessee kill made it 20-16, forcing a timeout from Darty. However, the Lady Volunteers scored five of the next seven points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set (Tennessee 25, Mississippi State 18)

After going down 10-3 to open the third set, the Bulldogs came back to tie the frame at 11-11. Tennessee retaliated, however, with a 7-0 run that MSU couldn't recover from, and the Lady Volunteers clinched victory after three sets.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateVB.