Volleyball SEC Opener At The O'Dome

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

GAINESVILLE, Florida – Mississippi State's volleyball team completed a successful non-conference schedule ignited by four consecutive winning weekends to begin the 2021 season. Next up, the Bulldogs focus in on a challenging SEC slate over the next 10 weeks.

State (9-3, 0-0 SEC) begins its 18-round conference bout with No. 17 Florida (6-4, 0-0 SEC) for a pair of matches at Exactech Arena inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. First serve for both matches is set for 6 p.m. CT. Thursday's match will be streamed online via SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN app, while Friday's matchup will televised nationally by SEC Network.

Mississippi State has won its last two conference matches versus a ranked opponent on the road after the Bulldogs defeated No. 7 Texas A&M on consecutive days on November 4 and 5, respectively, last season.

The Maroon and White is joined by Tennessee as the only two SEC programs to knock off two Power 5 opponents during the same weekend this season. Two weeks ago, the Bulldogs edged Indiana (Big Ten) and Oklahoma (Big 12) at the Georgia Tech Classic in Atlanta.

"We want to go out with confidence that we can compete with the best of the best," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "Playing such a highly ranked component in Georgia Tech was a great preview of what we are going to see against these top 25 teams in our league. We get to play Florida on back-to-back days and not in the same day. Hopefully, we will be a little more energetic and fresh."

"Preparation for conference is different than when you go to a non-conference tournament so I'm excited to see how dialed in and focused the team is," Dennis continued. "This could be an interesting match in my opinion if we can execute, follow the gameplan and serve-and-pass at a high level. We're a team that is focused on being the best version of ourselves and being proud of the brand of volleyball we're playing. I want the team to go out there and focus on our side of the net. I want the team to play a good, clean brand of volleyball. When the team can do that, they're normally having a lot of fun. When the team has fun, good things happen. It's intertwined, and it's something we're trying to get the team to buy in on."

Mississippi State ranks among the SEC's top 5 in kills per set (14.14 – 4th) and assists per set (12.80 – 5th). The Bulldogs have connected for over a .250 hitting percentage in six matches and amassed at least a 65 percent sideout mark during nine of 12 outings on the season.

Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean have teamed up to distribute 10.84 assists per set on the season, which would rank fourth among SEC setters if running a 5-1 offensive system. The duo went over the 3,000 career assists mark as a tandem at last weekend's Hail State Invitational.

Lauren Myrick has belted a team-leading 3.46 kills to go along with 2.54 digs and 0.39 aces per set. She and Coulter have amassed five double-doubles on the season, which are tied for second place heading into SEC action. The Louisville, Kentucky, native has slapped 0.39 aces also are eighth on the conference leaderboard. Myrick has posted a career-best 20 kills and added 10 digs versus South Alabama (09/18). She has posted five of her top eight efforts in kills this season.

Gabby Waden, a 2020-21 All-SEC selection, has powered home 3.00 kills per set on a .331 hitting percentage as a three-rotation right side hitter for the season. She has powered home 10-plus kills during five of her last seven outings, headed by a pair of 19-kill efforts against Southeastern Louisiana (08/28) and Indiana (09/09).

Sania Petties has emerged as one of the SEC's top freshmen and the SEC's best freshmen middle blocker over non-conference play. She has chipped in 1.79 kills and 0.77 blocks per set. Petties has put together a .413 hitting percentage, which is tops among SEC freshmen and fourth overall on the SEC leaderboard. She tallied a season-high 10 kills at Houston (09/03) and matched a season's best six blocks against Oklahoma (09/10).

"I was a little surprised to see how truly balanced we are offensively this year," Dennis said. "I thought we were going to have to be very reliant on Gabby [Waden] on the right side to score a bunch of points for us, but I've been impressed with how balanced we've been offensively. Lauren has been consistent on the left side scoring points, and she has put together some good kill numbers for us. I'm excited to see if we can continue to sustain that balance, and if we can continue to try to get the middles more involved. Having balance on the pins is great, that way we're not so right-side dominant, but I want to see the middles get more involved."

Lilly Gunter, a 2020-21 All-SEC Freshman team pick, has sprawled out in 10-plus digs in nine of her 11 starts wearing the libero jersey this season. She has eclipsed 20-plus digs twice, fueled by a career-best 22 digs against Indiana (09/09). Gunter's 3.76 digs per set is fifth-highest among SEC liberoes. Her nine matches of 10-plus digs are tied for second in the SEC.

Deja Robinson has tucked away 1.48 kills and a team-leading 1.19 blocks per set. She has compiled a .364 attack percentage, which is eighth in the SEC rankings. Robinson's 1.19 blocks check in 10th, while her five outings of five-plus blocks are tied for second among SEC players. Her season-highs are 11 kills and eight blocks at Houston (09/03).

Shania Cromartie has chipped in 2.41 kills, 2.11 digs and 0.19 aces per set as a six-rotation outside hitter. She collected a season-high 13 kills at Houston (09/03) and a season-best 13 digs versus Oklahoma (09/10).

Jessica Kemp has registered five-plus kills off the bench in seven of her 12 appearances. She has come away with 1.61 kills, 0.61 digs and 0.53 blocks per set for the season. Kemp's season-highs are 10 kills versus Southeastern Louisiana (08/28) and four blocks against Indiana (09/09).

Mississippi State has five native Floridians on its roster, which include a trio of starters in Coulter, Cromartie and Gunter along with Yuliana Amador and Burgundy Walters.

"Going home is always fun for our Floridians on our team and on our staff," Dennis said. "Hopefully, our family and friends can bring a little Maroon and White inside the O'Dome. As a staff, we've been preaching since day one that the non-conference was to prepare us for the conference schedule. It's great that we're 9-3. That's awesome, but it's a clean slate for us now. We're 0-0, and we've got our work cut out for us. We must take advantage of every preparation we have, and we need to take advantage of every chance we get to compete. The team understands it's a tough slate and a tough start, but I want to climb that mountain at the beginning and see what happens. We could play good volleyball against some really good teams, and that's where we're going to figure stuff out. The team is going to be excited and ready for more. I think we're going to continue to learn more about ourselves as we go."

Following SEC opening weekend, Mississippi State will play five of its next seven matches inside the Newell-Grissom Building. The Bulldogs welcome LSU for a two-match weekend on October 1 and 2. Friday's first serve is slated for 6 p.m. CT followed by a Saturday afternoon tilt at 4 p.m. CT. Admission is free for 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.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Volleyball SEC Opener At The O'Dome

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Players Mentioned

Yuliana Amador

Gabby Coulter

Shania Cromartie

Margaret Dean

Lilly Gunter

Jessica Kemp

Lauren Myrick

Sania Petties

Deja Robinson

Gabby Waden

Burgundy Walters

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