Friday, August 30
Starkville
12:00 PM
Mississippi State
1-0
3
vs
1
Chattanooga
0-1
1
2
3
4
F
Chattanooga
18
25
22
19
1
Mississippi St.
25
20
25
25
3
State Sweeps Opening Day Doubleheader
August 30, 2019 | Volleyball
By Austin Coats, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – One afternoon of play ended up scoring two opening day wins for the Mississippi State volleyball team.
MSU (2-0) defeated both Chattanooga (1-1) and Mississippi Valley State (0-2) on Friday, August 30, the first day of the StarkVegas Classic at the Newell-Grissom Building.
"Today was a really big step in the right direction for this team," head coach Julie Darty said. "A lot of the conversation we had Thursday in practice was to believe in one another and believe that we are capable and that we can do it. I think they came out here really calm today."
MSU's day started with a 3-1 win over Chattanooga. The two teams traded set wins before State took the final two frames.
"Chattanooga is a very polished and scrappy team," Darty said. "A ton of credit to them because they were pretty tough to beat."
With one win under their belt, the Bulldogs delivered a dominant victory against Mississippi Valley State in the final of four total matches played at The Griss on Friday.
"I am just proud of our serves and service pressure all day," Darty said. "I think we served pretty tough from the line. I also think we handled the ball really well."
Senior Alleah Stamatis led a powerful offense all day, collecting 60 total assists on Friday and earning a double-double in the first match.
Sophomore Gabby Waden benefitted most from Stamatis, turning in 19 kills altogether.
"I have said from day one that if we can pass the ball and run a balanced offense, good things will happen. One of the goals that the team talked about was first contact and how everything will fall into place if we can handle the first ball. I think it really did."
Game One | Mississippi State 3, Chattanooga 1
Stamatis set the tone as the senior earned her fifth double-double for the Maroon and White, grabbing 32 assists and 15 digs to lead MSU to victory. It was her first double-double since Oct. 21, 2018 at Ole Miss, and the 16th of her career.
Stamatis earned career-highs in both categories, while also reaching a career-best kill count with seven kills.
Senior Amarrah Cooks and sophomores Waden and Paige Shaw collected 10 kills apiece. Cooks did so on 16 attempts with a pair of attacking errors for a .500 attacking rate. Waden's 10 kills bested her previous career high, which was eight.
Freshmen Makenzie Jordan, Callie Minshew and Kate Smith all made their Bulldog debuts in match one. Minshew also made her first-career start, posting seven kills, eight digs and two total blocks.
First Set (MSU 25, Chattanooga 18)
MSU got out to a 3-0 lead to start and never surrendered the lead. The Mocs nearly made things interesting near the end, trimming the Bulldog lead to one at 19-18, but MSU closed the frame on a 6-0 run, helped out by four consecutive Chattanooga attacking errors to end it.
Second Set (Chattanooga 25, MSU 20)
Minshew opened the scoring with a kill, but MSU lost the lead following it and were never able to retake it. State hitters were held to their worst percentage of the night, attacking at a .179 rate.
Third Set (MSU 25, Chattanooga 22)
Despite trailing most of the third set, State took the lead late in the frame to earn the 2-1 set advantage.
Fourth Set (MSU 25, Chattanooga 19)
Chattanooga opened the final set with a 4-0 scoring run, but the Bulldogs rallied to end the match after four. Up 14-10, MSU extended its lead to seven, 17-10, before eventually dropping Chattanooga by six points.
Game Two | Mississippi State 3, Mississippi Valley State 0
Darty's Dawgs cruised to a three-set sweep over Mississippi Valley State in the nightcap of the four-game schedule at Newell-Grissom on Friday. MSU hitters attacked at a .357 hitting percentage, while managing to hold MVSU to a .000 mark.
Minshew was all over the scoresheet while starting for the second time Friday. The freshman picked up eight kills and a .389 attacking percentage, while posting three service aces, six digs and two blocking assists. She led MSU with 12.0 points.
Stamatis paced the offense once again, earning 28 assists alongside four digs.
Cooks was State's most efficient attacker, converting seven kills on 12 attacks for a .583 mark. The senior added three solo blocks and three block assists to her ledger.
Freshmen Katie Culumovic and Burgundy Walters each saw their first action as Bulldogs in the win.
First Set (MSU 25, MVSU 9)
Bulldog attackers came out firing darts in the opening set, converting at a .522 attacking percentage. Deja Robinson led the group in set one, tallying four of her seven kills in the match.
Second Set (MSU 25, MVSU 10)
Waden finished the match with a team-high nine kills, and six of them came within the middle frame. Waden and her fellow attackers were efficient once again, posting a .483 rate in set two. Gabby Zgunda earned six digs in the set, half of her match total of 12.
Third Set (MSU 25, MVSU 16)
The Bulldogs and Devilettes went back and forth early in the final set, but the Bulldogs pulled away to clinch the sweep. With the score tied 9-9, a kill from Jordan sparked a 4-0 run for MSU that was aided by three errors by the Devilettes. State pushed the envelope from there, taking the set by nine points.
Up Next
Mississippi State takes on Western Illinois Saturday (August 31) at 2 p.m. in the final match of the StarkVegas Classic. On Friday, WIU swept Mississippi Valley State before falling to Chattanooga later in the day, 3-0.
"I am really excited to close out the StarkVegas Classic tomorrow with a really good opponent in Western Illinois," Darty said. "Overall, I am just really proud of these girls."
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateVB.
StarkVegas Classic
Friday, August 30
Game One | Mississippi State 3, Chattanooga 1
Game Two | Western Illinois 3, Mississippi Valley State 0
Game Three | Chattanooga 3, Western Illinois 0
Game Four | Mississippi State 3, Mississippi Valley State 0
Saturday, August 31
Game Five | Mississippi Valley State vs. Chattanooga | Noon CT
Game Six | Western Illinois at Mississippi State | 2 p.m. CT | SEC Network+
STARKVILLE – One afternoon of play ended up scoring two opening day wins for the Mississippi State volleyball team.
MSU (2-0) defeated both Chattanooga (1-1) and Mississippi Valley State (0-2) on Friday, August 30, the first day of the StarkVegas Classic at the Newell-Grissom Building.
"Today was a really big step in the right direction for this team," head coach Julie Darty said. "A lot of the conversation we had Thursday in practice was to believe in one another and believe that we are capable and that we can do it. I think they came out here really calm today."
MSU's day started with a 3-1 win over Chattanooga. The two teams traded set wins before State took the final two frames.
"Chattanooga is a very polished and scrappy team," Darty said. "A ton of credit to them because they were pretty tough to beat."
With one win under their belt, the Bulldogs delivered a dominant victory against Mississippi Valley State in the final of four total matches played at The Griss on Friday.
"I am just proud of our serves and service pressure all day," Darty said. "I think we served pretty tough from the line. I also think we handled the ball really well."
Senior Alleah Stamatis led a powerful offense all day, collecting 60 total assists on Friday and earning a double-double in the first match.
Sophomore Gabby Waden benefitted most from Stamatis, turning in 19 kills altogether.
"I have said from day one that if we can pass the ball and run a balanced offense, good things will happen. One of the goals that the team talked about was first contact and how everything will fall into place if we can handle the first ball. I think it really did."
Game One | Mississippi State 3, Chattanooga 1
Stamatis set the tone as the senior earned her fifth double-double for the Maroon and White, grabbing 32 assists and 15 digs to lead MSU to victory. It was her first double-double since Oct. 21, 2018 at Ole Miss, and the 16th of her career.
Stamatis earned career-highs in both categories, while also reaching a career-best kill count with seven kills.
Senior Amarrah Cooks and sophomores Waden and Paige Shaw collected 10 kills apiece. Cooks did so on 16 attempts with a pair of attacking errors for a .500 attacking rate. Waden's 10 kills bested her previous career high, which was eight.
Freshmen Makenzie Jordan, Callie Minshew and Kate Smith all made their Bulldog debuts in match one. Minshew also made her first-career start, posting seven kills, eight digs and two total blocks.
First Set (MSU 25, Chattanooga 18)
MSU got out to a 3-0 lead to start and never surrendered the lead. The Mocs nearly made things interesting near the end, trimming the Bulldog lead to one at 19-18, but MSU closed the frame on a 6-0 run, helped out by four consecutive Chattanooga attacking errors to end it.
Second Set (Chattanooga 25, MSU 20)
Minshew opened the scoring with a kill, but MSU lost the lead following it and were never able to retake it. State hitters were held to their worst percentage of the night, attacking at a .179 rate.
Third Set (MSU 25, Chattanooga 22)
Despite trailing most of the third set, State took the lead late in the frame to earn the 2-1 set advantage.
Fourth Set (MSU 25, Chattanooga 19)
Chattanooga opened the final set with a 4-0 scoring run, but the Bulldogs rallied to end the match after four. Up 14-10, MSU extended its lead to seven, 17-10, before eventually dropping Chattanooga by six points.
Game Two | Mississippi State 3, Mississippi Valley State 0
Darty's Dawgs cruised to a three-set sweep over Mississippi Valley State in the nightcap of the four-game schedule at Newell-Grissom on Friday. MSU hitters attacked at a .357 hitting percentage, while managing to hold MVSU to a .000 mark.
Minshew was all over the scoresheet while starting for the second time Friday. The freshman picked up eight kills and a .389 attacking percentage, while posting three service aces, six digs and two blocking assists. She led MSU with 12.0 points.
Stamatis paced the offense once again, earning 28 assists alongside four digs.
Cooks was State's most efficient attacker, converting seven kills on 12 attacks for a .583 mark. The senior added three solo blocks and three block assists to her ledger.
Freshmen Katie Culumovic and Burgundy Walters each saw their first action as Bulldogs in the win.
First Set (MSU 25, MVSU 9)
Bulldog attackers came out firing darts in the opening set, converting at a .522 attacking percentage. Deja Robinson led the group in set one, tallying four of her seven kills in the match.
Second Set (MSU 25, MVSU 10)
Waden finished the match with a team-high nine kills, and six of them came within the middle frame. Waden and her fellow attackers were efficient once again, posting a .483 rate in set two. Gabby Zgunda earned six digs in the set, half of her match total of 12.
Third Set (MSU 25, MVSU 16)
The Bulldogs and Devilettes went back and forth early in the final set, but the Bulldogs pulled away to clinch the sweep. With the score tied 9-9, a kill from Jordan sparked a 4-0 run for MSU that was aided by three errors by the Devilettes. State pushed the envelope from there, taking the set by nine points.
Up Next
Mississippi State takes on Western Illinois Saturday (August 31) at 2 p.m. in the final match of the StarkVegas Classic. On Friday, WIU swept Mississippi Valley State before falling to Chattanooga later in the day, 3-0.
"I am really excited to close out the StarkVegas Classic tomorrow with a really good opponent in Western Illinois," Darty said. "Overall, I am just really proud of these girls."
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateVB.
StarkVegas Classic
Friday, August 30
Game One | Mississippi State 3, Chattanooga 1
Game Two | Western Illinois 3, Mississippi Valley State 0
Game Three | Chattanooga 3, Western Illinois 0
Game Four | Mississippi State 3, Mississippi Valley State 0
Saturday, August 31
Game Five | Mississippi Valley State vs. Chattanooga | Noon CT
Game Six | Western Illinois at Mississippi State | 2 p.m. CT | SEC Network+
Team Stats
UTC
MSU
Kills
55
52
Errors
20
20
Attempts
156
146
Hitting %
.224
.219
Points
65.0
65.0
Assists
51
47
Aces
7
6
Blocks
3.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
S/DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
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