Volleyball Exhibition Victory

Friday, August 20

Hattiesburg, Miss.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

0-0,0-0SEC

Southern Miss (Exh.)

-00,00 CUSA

Mississippi St.

Southern Miss.

August 20, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi – Mississippi State's volleyball team stormed back to the take the final three sets of a 3-1 exhibition victory over Southern Miss (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22) on Friday at USM's Wellness Center.

The Bulldogs imposed their will on the front row and racked up a 10-3 advantage in blocks. The Maroon and White also improved its sideout percentage each set, fueled by a 77 percent clip during the fourth set.

State had three players register 10-plus kills and three players collect double-doubles.

"We did a great job of bouncing back [after the first set]," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "We had some goals that the team set before this that they hit. I'm fairly sure we hit our passing goal tonight. I felt like we leveled off our serve-and-pass game towards the end and got really aggressive with our first contact. I know we were able to sideout above 60 percent, and we hit over .250 as a team. Those were some of the things we were really focused on. I'm proud of how we responded after that first set, how we were able to bounce back and have sets two, three, and four like we did."

Gabby Waden fired in 15 of her match-leading 17 kills following the first set and ripped a .444 hitting clip to lead a balanced attack. Shania Cromartie chipped in 15 kills, eight digs and a sparking 97.3 reception percentage on 36 attempts. Lauren Myrick provided a spark off the bench with 11 kills and 12 digs over the last three stanzas.

Gabby Coulter handed out 24 assists coupled with 16 digs, while Margaret Dean distributed 15 assists. Anchoring the back row, Lilly Gunter delivered 19 digs and 12 assists.

Sania Petties contributed a solid all-around effort with six kills, five blocks, eight digs and three aces. Jessica Kemp tacked on five kills and three blocks for the Bulldogs.

"It was awesome that Gabby Waden picked up right where she left off with 17 kills and hitting .444," Dennis said. "It's really cool that Shania came into her first match as an outside and hit .275 with 15 kills. She was close to a double-double, I think 15 kills on 40 swings is pretty exceptional for your first time back on the outside. Lauren was outstanding. She came in and played three solid sets. It's been fun watching her put it all together and learn."

After dropping a tightly-contested opening set that featured 11 ties and six lead changes, Mississippi State bounced back in the second frame.

The Bulldogs erased a 9-6 deficit behind five consecutive points as Cromartie, Kemp, Petties and Waden notched kills to flip the score to 11-9. State completed an 11-2 spurt and stretched its lead to 17-11 on a Rebecca Walk kill. Southern Miss got as close as 23-21, but the Bulldogs salted the frame away, 25-21, after a Myrick kill and a Cromartie ace.

Mississippi State connected for 16 kills and a .361 attack percentage to take the third set. Cromartie and Waden combined for 10 of those kills on 19 errorless and efficient swings. Ahead 13-9, the Bulldogs pieced together three straight points. Kills from Myrick and Waden were sandwiched between a Petties-Waden block to make it 16-9. The Bulldogs never looked back and took the stanza, 25-19.

Mississippi State put the finishing touches on its four-set victory with a steady effort. Up 18-16, the Bulldogs pulled away after Dean sent the ball over on two to go along with Waden and Cromartie kills to make it a five-point spread. The Bulldogs were able to close out the win, 25-22.

"We definitely know what we need to work on," Dennis said. "Our [service] ace-to-error ratio is a little too high, so we'll fine tune that. Overall, we're starting to figure out who we are. We're starting to figure out who can play really well next to each other, and what each person's strengths are."

Mississippi State will play host to Gonzaga and Southeastern Louisiana as part of the StarkVegas Classic next Friday and Saturday at the Newell-Grissom Building. Friday's season opener with Gonzaga gets underway at 4 p.m. CT. Admission is free to 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.