Volleyball Digs Deep In Five Set Win At Georgia

Wednesday, October 27

Athens, Ga.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

17-5,8-2SEC

Georgia

6-14,2-7SEC

Mississippi St.

Georgia

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Volleyball Digs Deep In Five Set Win At Georgia

October 28, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

ATHENS, Georgia – Mississippi State's volleyball team found the answers it needed most when the stakes were at its highest as the Bulldogs dug deep to start the SEC's second half with a five-set road triumph over Georgia [24-26, 25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 15-12] on Wednesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.

The victory vaulted State (17-5, 8-2 SEC) into sole possession of second place in the SEC standings. The Bulldogs also captured a program-record fifth consecutive SEC win and equaled the program's SEC watermark for conference victories during a single season.

The Maroon and White has won five of its seven matches that have gone the distance in 2021 and defeated Georgia (6-14, 2-7 SEC) in two of its last three outings.

"[8-2 in the SEC] sounds awesome, and I'm so proud of these girls," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "At the beginning of the year when we got voted 12th, it's really fun to turn heads and prove that wrong. We're working super hard in practice, and we're trying to apply everything we're focusing on in our gym into these matches and these tough situations. This league is so competitive. It's a tough conference from top-to-bottom. We're just going to have to keep slugging it out with teams because we know people are coming for us. It's really exciting to be where we are right now."

"Credit Georgia's block," Dennis continued. "They're an extremely physical blocking team. They made their presence known, but I was really proud of our response. We gutted it out and played some gritty defense. It was awesome to see that we outdug them. It was a battle and a slugfest. It's what we expected from Georgia, who is well-coached and well-prepared. Certainly, they were gunning for us tonight."

Margaret Dean and Gabby Coulter, State's setters, came up with monster service runs during the deciding fifth set. Dean got the Bulldogs rolling and opened the frame with an ace. State went ahead 4-0 after Deja Robinson and Gabby Waden teamed up for a block, and Waden buried a crosscourt kill.

Georgia regrouped behind seven of the next nine points to snatch a 7-6 edge. Cromartie provided a critical sideout to draw State even at 7-7. Then, it was Coulter's turn to go on a serving streak. Rebecca Walk made UGA pay with a powerful kill off an overpass to put the Maroon and White up 8-7.

After a UGA hitting error that placed State ahead by two points, Coulter connected with Cromartie for a down-the-line kill on a 1-on-1 matchup. A Coulter ace pushed State back up by four points at 11-7.

"Our setters [Coulter and Dean] went back there, and they were point scoring [in the fifth set]," Dennis said. "They both were so focused and were executing where we were trying to locate and where we were trying to hit. Margaret and Gabby put us in a great position with their point scoring ability back there. I trusted our defense with them behind the line to get people out of system and do a tremendous job. Once again, we never were going to stop fighting."

State turned to its middles to get to match point as Walk cranked an out-of-system kill, and Robinson soared over the UGA block off a serve-receive sideout to make it 14-10.

Georgia wiped away a pair of match points. However, State found its resolve courtesy of another Waden crosscourt kill to find its way to the winner's circle at 15-12. The Bulldogs rattled home nine kills on a .389 hitting percentage during the winner-take-all frame.

"As a team, we talk about how we are doing well," Waden said. "The first half of SEC, we did really well, and we know that teams are going to want to be that team to beat us. We take pride, and we know we have to bring the same intensity every time we take the court. This one was really important. We're 8-2 in SEC, that's huge. I think it was a good team win tonight."

Waden delivered a clutch 20 kills, her second-highest output of the 2021 campaign, and tied a season's best with five blocks. It marked the sixth time that Waden has reached the 20-kill barrier during her career. She has ripped 15-plus kills in eight of her 10 SEC matches and is on the brink of becoming the
11th player in program history to collect 1,000 career kills.

"Gabby was super-efficient," Dennis said. "I was confident, and I knew we could get her the ball in clutch moments. For us to finish that match with her swinging for that 20th kill to seal the deal was pretty exciting. We talk about effort and execution. We were putting forward a great amount of effort, and we just had to clean up our execution. She [Waden] was really dialed in on where we were trying to attack tonight. I'm very proud of her for a great offensive performance."

Lauren Myrick stayed on the double-double train with 10 kills, 15 digs and three blocks. She anchored State's serve-receive efforts converting on 54-for-56 of her reception attempts. Myrick has tucked away a double-double in eight of her last 10 matches.

Coulter nearly joined Myrick with a double-double of her own as she secured 22 assists and nine digs. Dean dished out 29 assists and seven digs for the Maroon and White.

"Our setters do a great job of sticking to the game plan and getting us a lot of points with their serve," Waden said. "They also do a great job of hustling down every ball, and they put us in great positions to score. They definitely carry a load that not everyone sees and are definitely appreciated within our team."

Lilly Gunter corralled 17 digs and five assists wearing the libero jersey. The 17 digs enabled Gunter to push her run to 13 consecutive matches with double-digit digs.

Robinson made her presence felt with six kills and eight blocks, while Walk garnered eight kills and three blocks from their middle blocker post. Kemp added nine kills, five digs and a pair of blocks, whereas Cromartie worked her way to eight kills, 12 digs and a pair of aces.

"Our middles work so hard in transition," Dennis said. "They have to be up and available so that we're holding Georgia's middle blockers. I thought they did a great job of putting up some numbers in the kill category but also creating splits for our pins. Their work, sometimes, doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but they do a tremendous job for us. I'm very proud of Rebecca and Deja."

Mississippi State had a golden opportunity to grab a one-set advantage, but Georgia rallied behind 14 of the last 19 points to turn a seven-point margin in its favor at 26-24. UGA also fought off a match point during the fourth set en route to another 26-24 decision.

The middle stanzas belonged to Mississippi State. Deadlocked at 17-17 in set two, the Bulldogs made their move with a 6-1 flurry. Walk gobbled up a dig attempt that went over to the State side of the net. She teamed with Kemp for a double stuff, and Kemp tacked on a tip kill to give State a 20-17 advantage.

State pieced together another Walk kill, a Robinson-Myrick block and a Myrick kill that split the UGA block attempt to push points to 23-18. A UGA service error gave State the 25-22 win and knotted the match at a set each.

Trailing 22-20 during the third set, it was State's turn to flip the script on Georgia. Waden and Myrick used roll shot kills to equalize the scoreboard at 22-22. Robinson and Waden put up their fortress with a block, and Waden brought State to set point with a crosscourt kill.

UGA was pesky with the next two points, but State kept its composure on the defensive end. Back-to-back Georgia attack errors gave State the 26-24 victory and a 2-1 sets edge.

Mississippi State heads into November portion of its schedule and takes on Alabama next Wednesday inside the Newell-Grissom Building. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT, televised nationally by the SEC Network. The match also will be streamed online via www.ESPN.com/watch and the ESPN app.

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.