Volleyball Makes Program History, Outlasts No. 17 Florida

Friday, September 24

Gainesville, Fla.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

10-4, 1-1SEC

No. 17 Florida

7-5, 1-1SEC

Mississippi State

Florida

Volleyball Makes Program History, Outlasts No. 17 Florida

September 24, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

GAINESVILLE, Florida – Mississippi State's volleyball team showcased its composure, trust and belief to deliver a historic 3-2 triumph over No. 17 Florida [17-25, 25-23, 26-24, 21-25, 15-13] on Friday evening at Exactech Arena inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

The Bulldogs (10-4, 1-1 SEC) rode several monumental career performances to capture their first win in program history over the SEC's most decorated program in eight-time NCAA Final Four participant and two-time NCAA Runner-Up in Florida (7-5, 1-1 SEC).

Mississippi State didn't back down from 4-1, 9-6 and 11-9 deficits during the winner-take-all fifth set. At 11-9 and following a Florida service error, Sania Petties and Gabby Waden teamed up for a monster block to knot the tally at 11-11.

Then, the two teams traded sideouts. It was Shania Cromartie who soared over the UF block attempt to tie the score at 12-12. Cromartie vaulted the Bulldogs ahead, 13-12, with a powerful kill through the block.

All square at 13-13, Florida committed a service error and an attack error off the tape without a touch on the block which caused State's bench to erupt and a team celebration to commence on the floor. Then, the jubilant Bulldogs went to the stands to celebrate with family and friends in attendance.

"This team doesn't stop fighting, and this team never stops believing in one another," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "We talk about composure, belief, and trust all the time because those are the strong holds we want our program to be about. The team was so dialed in on getting the job done, taking care of the ball and taking care of each other. When they have fun, they take care of each other and play with a lot of love and joy. It's such a fun group to watch."

"Last night was historical in its own way [taking Florida to five sets]," Dennis continued. "We focused on our recovery after last night's match, and we focused on out preparation today. Going into that fifth set tonight, we talked about the loosest team was going to win. I thought Florida was the loosest team yesterday. Today, we found ourselves in pivotal moments. Last night, we talked about we needed one more arm," Dennis said. "Shania shows up and knocks down 25 kills. So, we got that one more arm we needed. It was a fun night. I'm proud of the team, and I'm so proud this team made history for our Mississippi State volleyball program. This is just the beginning. We have a long conference slate ahead of us, and I'm super excited to see what this team is capable of for this season."

Cromartie belted a career-high 25 kills and added 10 digs to tuck away her third double-double of the season. She cranked several critical swings throughout the match but saved her best for the closing time where she hammered home five kills during the fifth set.

Waden and Lauren Myrick gave the Maroon and White a three-headed monster attack on the pins. Myrick rattled home 14 kills and 11 digs for her third consecutive double-double and seventh double dip of the season. She also posted perfection in her 21 reception attempts.

Waden banged 14 kills, four digs and three blocks. The 2020-21 All-SEC pick has collected 10-plus kills during seven of her last 10 matches.

Lilly Gunter was nails on the back line and chomped her way to a career-high 33 digs. She also did the heavy lifting in the serve-receive game going 40-for-42 on her reception attempts.

"Lilly is the anchor for us in service-receive and defense," Dennis said. "She found rhythm and confidence when she passed a good ball. I told her that there's nobody else I want to be passing every single ball in the fifth set. I want them to target you. If they target you, we're in a good spot. She believed it, trusted in herself and trusted that it was going to happen. She did a great job in that fifth set. For her to have 33 digs after an incredible performance by their libero last night with 31 digs. That just tells you these are two incredible libero's playing some high-level volleyball and doing a lot of work for their teams."

Mississippi State's setting pair of Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean combined for 56 assists and 15 digs. Both players passed out 28 assists, whereas Dean nearly compiled a double-double with nine digs.

"We have been clawing away all preseason to put ourselves in positions to face challenges like this," Dean said. "We were the most comfortable with being uncomfortable in this very situation. At the end, I felt like we wanted it a little bit more.

"The biggest thing about this team is that it doesn't matter who gets the pass, the set or the kill," Dean continued. "We are all just really excited that it happened. We celebrate for each other like it's our own. It's been really great that everybody has each other's backs through this whole process. Anybody can go in at any time and make big statement."

The trio of Francesca McBride, Petties and Deja Robinson combined for 13 kills and 13 blocks. McBride tallied five kills and four blocks, while Petties notched five kills and five blocks. Robinson chipped in three kills and four blocks.

As a team, Mississippi State manufactured 67 kills and a .260 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs converted on 67 percent of their sideout attempts during sets two, three and five.

Florida took sets one and four by 25-17 and 25-21 scorelines, respectively. Mississippi State countered in the middle frames in Maalox mashers, 25-23 and 26-24.

Ahead 20-19 in set two, Dean steadied the Dawgs with a dump kill on the second contact. Cromartie went down-the-line to stretch it to 22-19 and got a friendly bounce off the tape on a crosscourt spike to bring State to set point at 24-21. Florida erased two set points, but Cromartie tooled the block down the line to tuck away the 25-23 win.

The third stanza featured 10 ties and three lead changes. Cromartie and Myrick placed the Dawgs ahead by a 2-1 margin after back-to-back kills to salt away the 26-24 victory.
Mississippi State's SEC home opener is a weekend series with LSU on October 1-2. The Bulldogs will play five of their next seven matches inside the Newell-Grissom Building. Friday's first serve is on-tap for 6 p.m. CT followed by a 4 p.m. CT tilt for Saturday. Admission is free for all home volleyball matches with gates opening one hour prior to first serve.

"We need our family in the house, our fans truly are the difference maker," Dennis said. "When there is a sea of Maroon and White in the stands and we can turn and hear their voices, it helps so much. It helps keep that composure, belief and trust together. There's a different level of comfort when we play at home. I'm super excited to bring this team back from Gainesville and get back to StarkVegas and open up the SEC home schedule with LSU. It's going to be a tough weekend. LSU is a very good team playing good volleyball right now. Top-to-bottom this league is very tough, and that's what we signed up for.

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.