Volleyball Downs South Carolina In Four

Wednesday, October 13

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

13-5,4-2SEC

South Carolina

11-6,3-4SEC

South Carolina

Mississippi St.

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Volleyball Downs South Carolina In Four

October 13, 2021 | Volleyball

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by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's volleyball team protected its home floor once again and captured a signature RPI top 25 victory as the Bulldogs downed South Carolina [25-23, 26-24, 18-25, 25-22] in four sets on Wednesday evening at the Newell-Grissom Building.

State (13-5, 4-2 SEC) has won four of its six SEC decisions for the first time in program history fueled by the program's first win over nationally-ranked Florida, in addition to a trio of home court wins over LSU and South Carolina (11-6, 3-4 SEC).

The Maroon and White put together a balanced offensive attack with 67 kills and a .284 hitting percentage. State also was scrappy on the back row and outdug the Gamecocks by a 60-51 margin. The Bulldogs tabulated a 63.2 sideout percentage, ignited by a 33-for-48 during the opening two sets.

"The way we came out in the first set, to me, showed that everything we've been working on in practice was clicking after the time we had off," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "The time we just could work on us in practice, paid off tremendously. I thought we got a little accepting of our lead [midway through the first set] and let them come back in. It was very close."

"That second set response was great, winning another tight set," Dennis continued. "Third set – we didn't come out aggressive or assertive like we were in the first two sets. The response in set four was incredible. It was back and forth, a lot of clutch plays on both sides. I thought our kids decided to gut it out and win it. Like I've said before, the team doesn't quit. They're never going to give up, and they're never going to stop fighting. They're never going to give up on each other, and that's my favorite thing about this team.

Gabby Waden, Shania Cromartie and Callie Minshew each combined for solid all-around performances as the trio ripped 47 kills, added 16 digs, recorded a pair of blocks and was an efficient 40-for-41 in the serve-pass game.

Waden, a Columbia, South Carolina native, brought the hammer down for a match-leading 18 kills on a .351 attack clip. She has ripped double-digit kills in all six SEC matches for State, sparked by five efforts of at least 15 kills. The 18 kills also enabled Waden to eclipse 900 for her career.

Shania Cromartie nearly tucked away a double-double with a powerful 17 kills, nine digs and an ace. The 17 kills for Cromartie was her second-highest career output. She also converted on all 13 of her reception attempts.

Callie Minshew rattled home a season's best 12 kills to go along with seven digs and a block. She was an effective 24-of-25 in the serve-pass battle.

Sania Petties and Deja Robinson provided the Bulldogs with balance from the middle. Petties slapped six kills on 11 errorless swings for a healthy .545 hitting clip, whereas Robinson tacked on five kills.

Francesca McBride chipped in season-highs with six kills and three digs over her three frames of action. State played without Lauren Myrick who entered the match with a team-leading 3.25 kills per set due to injury.

"All three [Cromartie, Minshew and Waden] did a great job, and I thought they each were very smart with their shot selection," Dennis said. "They were moving the ball around, tooling the block and hitting deep. We worked a lot on deep crosscourt this week in practice, so I'm very proud of them."

"We talk about it all the time, and we've got to get our middles more balls," Dennis continued. "I thought that Shania, to have the night she had with six kills, zero errors, and 11 swings, was great. Deja [Robinson] was great at times too, but again, we only set her 12 times. When we did get the middles balls, they were clutch. Jessica [Kemp] came in late off the bench and did a nice job with some smart shots. Francesca [McBride] was great early on, but I think that's beauty of this. We've got some depth and we've got some people that can step up when they get an opportunity."

Mississippi State's setting tandem of Margaret Dean and Gabby Coulter notched a combined 50 assists and eight digs apiece. Dean handed a career-best 30 assists followed by Coulter's 20 dimes.

Lilly Gunter provided another spectacular effort in the libero jersey. She notched a match-high 22 digs and distributed a season's best eight assists. Gunter has compiled 20 or more digs in three consecutive matches and in four of her last five outings.

"We worked a ton on out-of-system this week in practice," Dennis said. "Everybody's got to have a great set of hands to have a hittable ball. For Lilly to have eight assists, one, it shows that our setters are playing great defense. Two, it shows she [Gunter] put up many hittable, killable balls is a testament to her, and what she's been working on in practice. She's been focused, she's been aggressive, and I think her confidence right now is in a really good place."

The Bulldogs came firing out of the gates and belted eight kills on 10 swings to race out to an 11-3 advantage in the first set. Cromartie went back row crosscourt to break the 1-1 tie. State went up 6-1 courtesy of Petties transition kill from the middle. Minshew and McBride tacked on tip kills, and Cromatrie went crosscourt for the eight-point advantage.

South Carolina crept its way back into the opening stanza and drew within a point at 21-20 and 22-21. However, Minshew and Cromartie answered with back-to-to-back kills to bring State to set point. McBride beat the 1-on-1 block crosscourt to salt away the 25-23 triumph.

Sets two and four featured a combined 30 ties and 15 lead changes. Down 24-23 in the second, Petties took advantage off a Gamecocks dig attempt that went over the net. Following a South Carolina attacking error, Petties soared over the block for a transition spike and the two-set advantage.

The Gamecocks extended the match with a 25-18 decision during the third stanza. Facing a 22-21 deficit in the fourth, Mississippi State dug deep to vault itself to the winner's circle. Waden provided the heroics tooling the block, added a tip kill and ended a long rally to bring the Bulldogs to match point. A South Carolina attack error ended the match after a strong block touch by Robinson and Waden.

"Playing at Ole Miss is another opportunity for our team," Dennis said. "It's a business trip, and I feel that we're used to going into hostile territory. I think Florida, the O-Dome, is pretty aggressive with that many fans. We know Ole Miss is going to be very well prepared, and they're going to play very aggressive. No doubt it's an important match, but our plan is to go to Oxford and play good, clean, loose volleyball. I believe our team is excited about the opportunity."

Sunday's match between State and Ole Miss is slated for a 2 p.m. CT first serve from Oxford. The match will be nationally televised by SEC Network and be available online at www.ESPN.com/watch along with the ESPN app.

Following the Ole Miss match, 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.