Volleyball Drops Final Road Match to Tennessee

Saturday, March 6

Knoxville, Tenn.

5:30 PM

Mississippi State

4-12,4-12SEC

Tennessee

8-6,8-6SEC

Mississippi St.

Tennessee

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Volleyball Drops Final Road Match to Tennessee

March 06, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Austin Coats, Graduate Assistant/Communications

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Gabby Waden averaged 6.00 kills per set on a .429 hitting percentage Saturday (March 6) night, but Mississippi State volleyball fell in straight sets to a strong Tennessee side in the final contest of a two-match series in Thompson-Boling Arena.

After dropping the first two frames, Mississippi State (4-12, 4-12 SEC) looked poised in the third set to start to build some momentum, but a late Tennessee (8-6, 8-6 SEC) run gave the Lady Vols an advantage and, eventually, the match sweep.

"Defensively we scrapped and got after it a little bit more tonight," MSU volleyball head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "The effort and the want were there. We were scoring more points with our serve but just weren't able to side out effectively enough, and that really caught us in some tough situations."

Waden's 18 kills led all players. For the weekend, the junior right side hitter totaled 37 kills (5.29 per set) on a .417 hitting mark. Defensively, freshman libero Lilly Gunter had 14 digs Saturday night and 31 (4.43 per set) on the weekend, helping MSU win the dig battle in both matches.

"Lilly had a good night defensively, and I think she is becoming more consistent back there," Darty Dennis said. "Waden had another great night, and we are still trying to figure out how to get some other attackers to carry some of that load. We have to be a bit more balanced and really get that smoothed out during this long stretch we have before we play Missouri."

Tennessee attacked at a .280 clip, as Morgahn Fingall and Danielle Mahaffey each tallied 14 kills. Defensively, Madison Bryant led all players with 15 digs.

Match Notes

After another fantastic performance, Gabby Waden tallied her 15th match with double-digit kills in 16 matches played this season. This spring, Waden has tallied 133 kills (4.43 per set) on a .371 hitting percentage.
With 22 assists and 10 digs, junior setter Gabby Coulter tallied her fourth double-double in eight matches as a Bulldog.
With three solo blocks on Saturday, graduate transfer middle blocker Jessica Kemp extended her streak of matches with three or more blocks to nine contests.

First Set (Tennessee 25, Mississippi State 19)

The Lady Vols hit .393 in the opening frame to secure a 1-0 match lead. After Tennessee took an early lead, two aces from Gunter, two kills from Waden and two kills from Logan Brown combined for a 6-0 run that tied the frame at 16-16. The two clubs traded the next four points before four MSU errors compounded within a 5-0 run for the Lady Vols. UT scored seven of the final eight points to win the frame.

Second Set (Tennessee 25, Mississippi State 17)

Tennessee used several shorter runs to build an 18-8 lead to start the second set. State tried to climb its way back with six consecutive points, three on Waden kills, but the deficit proved too much, and the Lady Vols staved off MSU to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set (Tennessee 25, Mississippi State 21)

MSU led for a large part of the third set, but Tennessee struck late to clinch the sweep. Deja Robinson and Brown had consecutive kills to give MSU a late 18-16 lead, but, after a timeout, the Lady Vols earned three straight scores on two Mahaffey kills and a Fingall ace to take the advantage. A UT service error re-tied the frame, but a pair of Bulldog errors and another Mahaffey kill gave Tennessee a three-point advantage, and the Lady Vols held on to win the final set.

Up Next
Mississippi State's next scheduled series is set for March 24-25 when it hosts Missouri at the Newell Grissom Building for its final two matches of the 2020-21 season.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateVB.