Volleyball Fights, Falls to No. 16 Kentucky in SEC Opener

By Austin Coats, Graduate Assistant/Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mississippi State volleyball showed its backbone in its SEC opener Friday (Sept. 27), but fell to No. 16 Kentucky (8-4, 1-0 SEC) in four sets at Memorial Coliseum to move to 11-2 (0-1 SEC) on the season.

Down 2-0, Mississippi State responded with a gutsy third-set win, then battled in a 25-23 fourth-set loss.

"I love the way this team started SEC play tonight," MSU volleyball head coach Julie Darty said. "We showed a lot of guts, and we showed a lot of resilience bouncing back from that second set. With 15 kills in that set alone, it showed me that my team wanted to step up and play.

"It was a total team effort. I could call anybody's name or number off the bench, and they were ready to go and give it everything they had. I thought that we did a really good job of deciding to play defense behind the block and digging balls. I'm really excited about what's next for the Bulldogs."

Freshman Callie Minshew nearly earned her third double-double while tallying nine kills and a team-best 14 digs.

"Our outsides are really starting to come back and be in the positives," Darty said. "Callie and Paige [Shaw] did a great job anchoring our serve and pass. They were definitely getting picked on by the Kentucky servers."

Sophomore Deja Robinson was State's best attacker, earning 11 kills and a .389 hitting percentage. Senior Amarrah Cooks converted seven kills at a .294 mark. Sophomore Gabby Waden had nine kills and earned five of those in State's third-set victory.

"Early on Kentucky was parked on Waden, so she had to come out of her funk," Darty said. "Once she came alive in that third set, I thought she was really good.

"Kanani [Price] did a great job in the libero jersey tonight. She was fearless and fierce as she always is."

Senior Alleah Stamatis racked up 34 assists.

"Alleah did a nice job trying to get everybody involved in the offense," Darty said.

First Set (Kentucky 25, Mississippi State 17)
State held its own early in the set, going back and forth with the Wildcats to a 4-4 score. With State down 6-5, Kentucky went on a 7-0 run and the Bulldogs couldn't come back from it. The Bulldogs came within six after two Wildcat attack errors made it 20-14, but Kentucky closed it down from there. Deja Robinson had three kills on as many attempts in the opening set.

Second Set (Kentucky 25, Mississippi State 11)
Two early kills by Cooks tied the set early, 3-3 and 4-4, but Kentucky pulled away and did not look back, going on to a 25-11 second-set victory.

Third Set (Mississippi State 25, Kentucky 21)
Down 2-0, the Bulldogs delivered a punch in the third set. State created some separation early with 4-0 run to go up 11-6. Kentucky tied it back up at 12-12, but a pair of errors gave State a 14-12 advantage.

The Wildcats crept back with a late 3-0 run that cut the deficit to one at 19-18, but the Bulldogs replied with three-straight points of its own, capped by a Gabby Waden kill to make it 22-18. An Amarrah Cooks kill closed the door as State won the third frame, 25-21. Waden came up alive in the third set, turning in five of her kills in that frame alone.

Fourth Set (Kentucky 25, Mississippi State 23)
When Kentucky looked like it would pull away in the final set, the Bulldogs responded and kept it within reach. Down 23-18, Darty called a timeout and rallied here team to a 3-0 run to force a Kentucky timeout with the Wildcats up 23-21.

State kept fighting even when the Wildcats set up match point, as Paige Shaw put down a block to bring it within one at 24-23. Kentucky closed the match on the next point, however, as an attack got past the Bulldog back line. Robinson picked up five kills in the final set.

Up Next
The Bulldogs will look to bounce back at home as they welcome LSU to the Newell-Grissom Building on Sunday, September 29. LSU defeated Arkansas in its conference opener on Wednesday to start the league slate 1-0.

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

Mississippi State University Athletics

Volleyball Fights, Falls to No. 16 Kentucky in SEC Opener

Players Mentioned

Amarrah Cooks

Callie Minshew

Deja Robinson

Paige Shaw

Alleah Stamatis

Gabby Waden

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