A 7-2 Start For Volleyball: Dawgs Dump Oklahoma

Friday, September 10

Atlanta, Ga.

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

7-2,0-0SEC

Oklahoma

4-4,0-0Big 12

Mississippi St.

Oklahoma

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

A 7-2 Start For Volleyball: Dawgs Dump Oklahoma

September 10, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

ATLANTA, Georgia – Mississippi State's volleyball team found the response it needed to grind out a third consecutive winning weekend as the Bulldogs knocked off Oklahoma [25-18, 25-16, 25-27, 25-14] to conclude the Georgia Tech Classic at O'Keefe Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs (7-2) posted victories over Big Ten and Big 12 opponents on the weekend. State's last win over a Big 12 opponent came against Baylor nearly a decade ago on September 11, 2011.

"I'm very excited for our team," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "We talked about wanting to finish the weekend 2-1 after falling to a nationally-ranked Georgia Tech team on their home floor last night. Our team is learning and progressing from one weekend to the next. Today, I wished we have closed it out in three, but I thought our group did a really good job of responding. We were clear, focused and dialed up in that fourth set. When we are playing like that, it's really fun to watch and really fun to be a part of. Our team played good clean volleyball, and we have a home tournament to look forward to next weekend."

Mississippi State's setting duo of Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean paired up to pass out 49 assists and tack on 14 digs. Coulter did the heavy lifting with 30 assists and eight digs. The Bulldogs were in-system for most of the match en route to 57 kills and a .277 attack percentage. Six players got into the act with at least five kills.

Mississippi State controlled the serve-and-pass battle with seven aces and a 65.8 percent sideout ratio. Lilly Gunter spearheaded the back row with 14 digs and was a flawless 13-for-13 on her reception attempts. The Oviedo, Florida native has worked her way to 10-plus digs in seven of her nine matches this season.

Gabby Waden, an all-tournament team selection, rattled home nine of her match-leading 14 kills over the first two sets. She connected on a .462 hitting percentage for the match and garnered double-digit kills during five of her last seven matches. Waden also played a role in three blocks.

"I'm definitely proud of our winning weekends," Waden said. "We've worked really hard to get these kind of results. We've been put into some situations where we had to depend on each other and lean on our preparation. I feel like we're always prepared. Push comes to shove, we're going to face tough teams, but we know how to work through it as a team."

Mississippi State's outside hitters, Shania Cromartie and Lauren Myrick, turned in double-double performances. Cromartie notched an impactful all-around effort with 10 kills, 13 digs, three aces, two blocks and two assists in her return to the starting lineup, whereas Myrick stuffed the stats sheet with 12 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and two aces. Myrick has tucked away three double dips in her last five efforts.

"We have to have our outsides involved for us to be successful and for us to run a balanced offense," Dennis said. "We were trying to get balls to the pins so they could hit line. I thought they found the line, tooled really well and worked the deep cross court ball. I thought our outsides had a really good bag of tricks, and I'm really proud of their efforts."

Jessica Kemp managed eight kills and two blocks, while Sania Petties picked up five kills and equaled a season's best with six blocks. Deja Robinson came away with six kills on 11 errorless swings and added a pair of blocks en route to all-tournament honors.

"Deja's presence at the net – she works so hard latterly and puts her hands over to get really good touches," Dennis said. "For her to come home and play in Atlanta during her senior year and do what she did, I'm so proud of her. For the two of them [Robinson and Waden], their roommates and their best friends. For them to make all-tournament team together is super cool."

The Bulldogs made their move early in set one with a 7-3 spurt to break a 2-2 tie and go ahead by a 9-5 margin. Waden and Petties got rolling with two kills each. Then, Cromartie and Petties added a block, and a Myrick kill stretched it to a four-point spread. Ahead 15-13, Mississippi State seized the momentum courtesy of five straight points. The flurry was headed by two blocks involving Petties and a Cromartie ace. The Bulldogs closed out the 25-18 decision on a Cromartie sideout spike.

State surged ahead by two sets, 25-16, after leading for the entire stanza. Up 7-6, the Bulldogs ripped off six consecutive points. Myrick ignited the run with a kill, and a pair of Oklahoma attack errors brought the score to 13-6. The Sooners got as close as 15-13, but Cromartie snatched the momentum back to State's side with a kill and an ace. Petties was involved in two blocks, one with Myrick and one with Kemp, to make it 20-13. Cromartie put the finishing touches on the 25-16 decision with a sideout kill.

Oklahoma extended the match with a 27-25 decision during the third set. The stanza featured 13 ties and five lead changes. State came out of a 22-20 hole and drew even at 22-22 on an out-of-system Kemp kill. The Bulldogs fought off a set point down 25-24 as Dean went over on two and found a spot in the middle of the floor. Oklahoma countered with a sideout kill and an ace to force a fourth set.

Mississippi State wasted no time and regrouped to race out to a 10-3 advantage. The early going was headlined by kills from Kemp, Petties, Robinson and Waden in addition to a Gunter ace. The Bulldogs pushed points and went up 16-6 after an Oklahoma hitting error. The match-clinching kill was Waden's to salt away the 25-14 rout.

Mississippi State concludes its non-conference slate and returns home to the friendly confines of the Newell-Grissom Building from September 17-19 at the Hail State Invitational. The Bulldogs will meet Syracuse (Friday – 6 p.m.), South Alabama (Saturday – 6 p.m.) and Jackson State (Sunday – 2 p.m.).

"Going back home, the crowd is very important," Waden said. "We love being at home, we love the atmosphere and we love our fans 100 percent. That's what helps us get that drive. I think it's important that the crowd shows up to help us, and we would love to have everyone there next weekend for the next three teams we play in the pre-conference."

Sunday's match will be televised nationally by SEC Network, while the Friday and Saturday matches will be carried online only courtesy of SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN app. Admission is free to all volleyball matches with doors opening 60 minutes 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.

Georgia Tech Classic All-Tournament Team
Mariana Brambilla (MVP) – Georgia Tech
Julia Bergmann – Georgia Tech
Paula Cerame – Indiana
Callie Kemohah – Oklahoma
Matti McKissock – Georgia Tech
Kaley Rammelsberg – Indiana
Deja Robinson – Mississippi State
Gabby Waden – Mississippi State
Megan Wilson – Oklahoma