Bulldogs Drop Series Finale to No. 24 Missouri

Thursday, March 25

Starkville

11:00 AM

Mississippi State

4-14,4-14SEC

Missouri

15-7,15-7SEC

Missouri

Mississippi St.

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Bulldogs Drop Series Finale to No. 24 Missouri

March 25, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Austin Coats, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – In the final contest of a two-match series, Mississippi State volleyball showed marked improvement but just could not get over the hump and suffered a three-set defeat to No. 24 Missouri Thursday (March 25) at the Newell-Grissom Building.

Mississippi State (4-14, 4-14 SEC) and Mizzou (15-7, 15-7 SEC) battled to a 25-23 score in the opening set, then played two initially close sets. The Tigers were able to outlast State in each, however, to take another straight set win.

"Today was a much better overall effort," MSU head volleyball coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "Our goal this morning was to be better than we were the day before, and we were focused on each point. As long as we can continue to trend in the right direction and focus on the small victories as a team, we will get a lot out of this season. That's the goal right now.

"We are just trying to make this a learning experience, and we are just trying to mature. We did a much better job offensively. We were more dialed in defensively, and it was a much more positive atmosphere today. The effort was really intense, and it was consistently better volleyball."

Callie Minshew and Gabby Waden each had 11 kills, improving on their totals from the series opener. Lilly Gunter led the Bulldogs defensively with 11 digs.

Kylie Deberg led Missouri with 14 kills, while Claudia Dillon was Mizzou's most efficient attacker with 10 kills on a .600 hitting percentage.

Match Notes

With 11 kills on Thursday, junior right side hitter Gabby Waden has tallied double-digit kills in 16 of 18 matches during the 2020-21 season.
Junior defensive specialist Alden Willis made her season debut this week, seeing the floor in both matches of the series.

First Set (Missouri 25, Mississippi State 23)

Minshew tallied five kills and an ace in the opening set to help State to a strong opening set performance, but the Tigers just outlasted MSU in the end. The two teams traded blows in the early going, and State was able to erase deficits created by Missouri runs. State broke a tie and was the first to 20 via Minshew's fourth kill, but the Tigers responded with three straight scores to go up 22-20. MSU wasn't able to respond with a run of its own, and Mizzou used single scores to escape with a 1-0 match lead.

Second Set (Missouri 25, Mississippi State 20)

Mizzou achieved the longest run of the set with three consecutive points, via service error and two blocks, to get out to an 18-15. That lone segment would carry the Tigers to victory in set two, as neither team would repeat the run. Waden tallied five kills on a .375 hitting mark in the frame.

Third Set (Missouri 25, Mississippi State 18)

State showed fight to minimize deficits after early Missouri runs, but the Bulldogs could not put together enough to come all the way back. The Tigers showed urgency to come away with the victory with four straight points to close out the match.

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