Volleyball Grinds Out Four-Setter Over Texas A&M

Saturday, October 23

Starkville

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

15-5,6-2SEC

Texas A&M

11-8,4-5SEC

Texas A&M

Mississippi St.

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Volleyball Grinds Out Four-Setter Over Texas A&M

October 23, 2021 | Volleyball

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by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's volleyball team protected its home floor and captured its fourth consecutive SEC home win during a 3-1 decision over Texas A&M [25-23, 20-25, 27-25, 25-16] on Saturday afternoon as a spirited and season's best 704 fans gathered at the Newell-Grissom Building.

The victory pushed the Bulldogs (15-5, 6-2 SEC) into sole possession of fourth place in the SEC standings. It also marked State's third consecutive win over a RPI top 50 opponent in the last 11 days and its third straight victory over Texas A&M (11-8, 4-5 SEC). The Maroon and White's 6-2 SEC mark continues to be the program's best start after eight conference matches.

"The fans were incredible," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "To have them cheering and get this place going was unbelievable to help us push through. The first set felt a little bit slow to start, and that second set wasn't exactly what we wanted either. But once we got our middles going and once we got Deja [Robinson] going, she was up in transition and available. That was a huge part of our game plan."

"I think we were pretty tough and gutsy from the service line," Dennis continued. "That was a huge part of our game plan as well to push them and put a lot of service pressure on them. We did a great job defensively. I think Lilly [Gunter] did a tremendous job digging in on the crosscourt on all of those outside swings. Again, a total team win having Rebecca [Walk] come in off the bench for Sania [Petties]. This team has got a lot of guts, this team has a lot of grit and they're never going to stop fighting."

The Bulldogs rode their strong outside attack as Gabby Waden, Lauren Myrick and Shania Cromartie each provided solid all-around efforts with a combined 42 kills, 27 digs and seven blocks.

Waden hammered home a match-leading 18 kills coupled with a career-best eight digs and added four blocks. She extended to run to all eight SEC matches with double-digit kills, fueled by at least 15 kills in seven of those eight outings. Waden saved her best for the tightly-contested sets as she belted 14 kills during sets one and three.

Myrick compiled her 10th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs. She was effective and efficient with only one error on 33 swings to manage a .364 hitting clip. Myrick has popped 10-plus kills in eight of her last nine appearances.

Cromartie chipped in 11 kills, eight digs and converted on 20-of-21 reception attempts.

Mississippi State worked its way to a 62.2 sideout percent sparked by a 12-for-17 ratio during the fourth set. The Bulldogs also won the serve-pass battle with eight aces and edged out the Aggies by a 70-68 mark in digs.

Lilly Gunter did her thing from the libero post with 23 digs, seven assists and nearly tabulated another perfect passer rating going 19-for-20 on reception attempts. The 23 digs gave Gunter her 11th consecutive match with 10-plus digs. She has eclipsed the 20-dig barrier in four of her last five matches.

Deja Robinson provided a spark from the middle with eight kills and five blocks. It marked the eighth time that Robinson has secured at least five blocks on the season.

"It was a battle defensively," Dennis said. "Both teams were digging a lot of balls. When we get our hands over the net, I think the announcers during our Ole Miss match called them [Robinson and Waden] 'a fortress at the net.' Deja and Gabby, they put up a really nice block when they're over and they're disciplined. It's a huge process for outsides to have to think about the block that's in-front of them. Overall, we're getting better. We want our block to improve a little bit because I feel like our backcourt is pretty good. We just want to keep improving as blockers."

Mississippi State's setters, Margaret Dean and Gabby Coulter, ran a clean 6-2 attack for the Bulldogs. Dean distributed 26 assists to go along with nine digs and equaled a career-best with four aces. Coulter passed out 22 assists and totaled eight digs.

Sania Petties notched four kills and a block followed by three kills apiece courtesy of Rebecca Walk and Jessica Kemp off the bench.

Texas A&M raced out to a 5-1 advantage, but the Bulldogs were able to settle into the match behind eight of the next 10 points to go up 9-7. Petties highlighted the flurry with three kills capped by a transition spike to give State the two-point edge.

The two teams went back-and-forth and deadlocked at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 apiece. A block from Cromartie and Petties swung the frame back in favor of the Bulldogs. Then, a Texas A&M hitting miscue allowed State to tuck away the 25-23 win.

The Aggies got even with a 25-20 decision in set two. Texas A&M strung together the stanza's final five points which started with two State hitting errors.

"We have a standard with ourselves, and we don't allow ourselves to get so down on ourselves," Robinson said. "We just try to come together as a team, in the huddles. We really talk about how we just need to focus on our side of the court and our side of the net."

The third set featured nine ties and four lead changes. State earned its points with 20 kills as Waden served as the lead car with eight spikes on nine errorless swings.

Down 15-12, the Bulldogs began their move on a Myrick serving run. State showcased its balance as Waden went crosscourt, Cromartie went down the line, Myrck ripped a back row kill, Cromartie took advantage of an A&M overpass and Waden went crosscourt again to make it 17-15.

Trailing 23-21 after the Aggies scored eight of the next 11 points, Robinson soared over the block for a first contact kill. Then, Robinson cleaned up an A&M dig attempt that went over to knot the scoreboard at 23-23. Waden wiped away a pair of set points for the Aggies with sideout spikes and brought the Bulldogs to the finish line at 27-25 with another kill tooling the A&M block attempt.

"That third set, had we not closed it out, I think we would have had a lot more volleyball to play," Dennis said. "But we were able to come together and keep our composure. In every timeout, we're constantly talking about composure, belief, trust and the understanding that we have to play with a lot of pride. We want to finish sets, finish points and finish matches. It always goes back to our core values. I mean, this group is dialed in and focused. They came through in that third set and pushed us over the top in that fourth set. I felt like that fourth set, we really controlled it the entire time."

State ran and hide during set four. A Robinson-Myrick block followed by a Dean ace gave the Bulldogs an early 6-1 advantage. At 12-10, it was a Gunter service run that salted the match away. Myrick pumped home a left-handed kill and added a solo block. A Robinson transition kill vaulted State up 18-10. Walk came away with a slide kill to place the Maroon and White in the winner's circle, 25-16.

"We have to focus on recovery," Dennis said. "We'll talk about what we did well, what we need to improve on and then just be prepared for a feisty A&M team tomorrow. This team is tough. They're well coached, well-prepared and they're not going to back down easily. So, we're going to have to really get after it and fight from the first point."

The Bulldogs will complete a stretch of five of seven matches at home to start October. State meets Texas A&M for a Sunday matinee. First serve is on-tap for 1 p.m. CT televised-nationally by the SEC Network and available online via the ESPN app. 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.