Volleyball Back At Home Against South Carolina

Wednesday, October 13

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

South Carolina

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Volleyball Back At Home Against South Carolina

October 12, 2021 | Volleyball

Notes (PDF)WATCH: MSU vs. South Carolina Live Stats

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's volleyball team wraps up the first-third of its SEC schedule and takes on another RPI top 25 opponent when South Carolina visits the Newell-Grissom Building on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs (12-5, 3-2 SEC) began their SEC slate with a quintet of hard-fought matchups with SEC frontrunner and No. 5 Kentucky along with No. 23 Florida and LSU, all of whom were picked to finish inside the top three of the 2021 SEC Preseason Coaches Poll.

A win over the Gamecocks (11-5, 3-3 SEC) would lift State the program's first 4-2 SEC start through six league matches. The Bulldogs enter the week in sole possession of sixth place in the SEC standings, one game behind but even in the loss column with Arkansas and Florida, who are tied for the third position.

Wednesday's first serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, carried online courtesy of SEC Network+. The match will be streamed online via the www.ESPN.com/watch and the ESPN app.

Admission is free for all home volleyball matches with gates opening one hour prior to first serve.

In accordance with Mississippi State University policies, face coverings are required to be worn at all times during all indoor athletic events unless fans are actively eating or drinking. Mississippi State Athletics has designed a socially distanced seating plan to welcome fans to the Newell-Grissom Building in the healthiest manner possible for the 2021 season.

"I think starting SEC play the way we did gave us a lot of confidence and things to build off of," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "We learned we can play with the SEC's best-of-the-best. Looking back, Florida feels forever ago to start conference play. I thought there were so many positives to build off of even in the lost to Kentucky."

"We've had some time to rest and to take some time off which has been really good for our group," Dennis continued. "It's allowed us to go back to the drawing board and see what we need to practice on the most. I feel we've been able to problem solve on what our strengths and weaknesses are. We've had really good practices yesterday as we prepare to face a good South Carolina team. I know the team is excited to play back at home. Hopefully, during this midweek match, we have the Maroon and White faithful and the energy we need to strive off of."

The Bulldogs continue to rank among the SEC's top six in kills per set (13.53 – 6th), assists per set (12.23 – 6th), and hitting percentage (.241 – 6th).

Gabby Waden, a 2020-21 All-SEC selection, has done the heavy lifting for State as of late. She has amassed 15 or more kills in four of her five SEC outings. For the season, Waden has cranked 3.14 kills per set on a .318 hitting percentage from the right side.

Waden has garnered 10-plus kills in 11 matches this season, tied for 10th on the SEC leaderboard, and on 45 occasions during her career. She is five kills away from 900 for her career and is in pursuit of becoming the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.

Waden is joined on the outside by Shania Cromartie and Lauren Myrick. The trio has piled up 28 matches of double-digit kills for the 2021 campaign.

Cromartie, the SEC's Player and SEC's Offensive Player of the Week on September 27, has compiled a trio of double-doubles on the season. She has powered home 10-plus kills in five matches, highlighted by a career-high 25 kills during State's 3-2 win at No. 17 Florida (09/24).

Myrick continues to shine in 2021 as a six-rotation outside hitter with double-doubles in five of her last six outings. Her nine double-doubles overall her four double dips versus SEC opponents are tied for third on the conference leaderboard.

Myrick has banged home 10-plus kills in 13 of her 16 appearances. The 13 matches of 10-plus kills are tied for second in the SEC. She has produced seven of her top 10 kills performances in 2021. Myrick notched 10 kills, 13 digs and a career-high four blocks during the Kentucky match (10/06).

Lilly Gunter continues to spearhead the back row wearing the libero jersey. She has ripped off 10-plus digs in eight straight appearances, fueled by 20 or more digs in three of her last four outings. Gunter has amassed six of her top nine career digs efforts this season. Her 4.10 digs per set are sixth in the SEC rankings, whereas her 33 digs at Florida are the second-most by a SEC player this season.

State's setting tandem of Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean has teamed up to hand out 10.63 assists per set on the season, which would rank fifth among SEC setters if running a 5-1 offensive system. The veteran duo has combined for 3,297 career assists and nine double-doubles in 2021.

"All year long, we've talked about how we want to be a more balanced team and how we want to be a more balanced offense," Dennis said. "During those big situations, we'll find a way to get the ball into Gabby's [Waden] hands. She's been a clutch player who knows she can score. With our balanced offense, we hoped she would have more kills on fewer shots and not be set all the time on bad situations. At Kentucky, we put her in some tough situations, and she was still clutch. I think that as the opponents get tougher, she will continue to get better by working on a lot of little things in practice and fine tune her craft. I think we're still in for a treat as we still climb the mountain of SEC play. She loves to climb the mountain and play physical volleyball."

MSU's middles of Sania Petties and Deja Robinson have combined for 2.83 kills and 1.81 blocks per set. Both are connecting at over a .300 hitting percentage, headed by Robinson at a .335 rate which is eighth on the SEC ledger.

Robinson recently moved into the program's top five and has racked up 334 career blocks, headed by 63 solo stuffs. She has provided five-plus blocks on seven times, which is tied for fifth among SEC players.
Jessica Kemp and Rebecca Walk have combined to tuck away 20 kills and seven blocks during State's last two matches.

"We're really focused on the right here, right now," Dennis said. "We've talked about living where our feet are and about how we need to be present. This is a very good South Carolina team. We'll have to be focused on one point at a time and not get to high or low, but be in that happy medium where we're composed. I believe one of our strengths is being evenly composed. The coaching staff talks about trust a lot, and the teams knows that we believe in them."

Mississippi State returns to the road for an in-state matchup at Ole Miss on Sunday. First serve is on-tap for 2 p.m. CT, televised nationally by SEC Network.

The Bulldogs will complete a stretch of five of seven matches at home to start October. State will play host to Texas A&M for a weekend series on October 23-24. Admission is free for all home volleyball matches with gates opening one hour prior to first serve.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the volleyball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateVB' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.