Mississippi State’s volleyball team collected its fourth sweep of the season and secured another winning weekend as the Bulldogs eased past Louisiana-Monroe 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 Saturday at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup on the University of Houston campus.
The Bulldogs (5-1) returned to their winning formula, headed by 44 kills and a .284 hitting percentage. They also produced a 69.8 sideout percentage, ignited by a 12-for-16 clip in set one.
State’s setters, Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean, passed out a combined 30 assists and 16 digs. Coulter made it consecutive double-doubles with 18 assists, 12 digs and 2 aces to wrap up the weekend. The Bulldogs cranked 15 kills on 28 swings with one error for a .500 attack ratio in set two.
Lauren Myrick, Gabby Waden and Sania Petties shouldered the offensive load and provided 29 of MSU’s 44 kills for the match.
On Friday, the Bulldogs battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, but Houston emerged with a tightly contested 25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13 win. They opened the event with a 25-12, 25-22, 25-18 win over McNeese State.
GOLF
Bulldogs go into third round with three among top 20
Mississippi State finished the second round of the Carmel Cup at famed Pebble Beach with three players in the top 20. The Bulldogs sit tied with No. 19 Arkansas for fifth place at 4-over.
The Bulldogs played steady golf on the front nine with 11 birdies. They added nine more on the back nine for 20 total Saturday. MSU shot a team score of 368 and has an overall score of 724.
“I thought we put ourselves in position early to play a solid round,” Bulldogs coach Dusty Smith said. “We hit the tough stretch of the course with some wind and didn’t do a good enough job of maintaining our momentum. We struggled in the middle of the round with bouncing back after a mistake. That is a stat we have put emphasis on this season.”
Mississippi State was led by junior Hunter Logan, who shot even par for the round and remains 2-under for the tournament. Logan fired consecutive birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 and is tied for seventh place on the individual leaderboard.
Senior Ben Nelson shot 2-over for the day but is 1-under for the tournament. He sits in a tie for 11th place. Freshman Jay Nimmo got off to an impressive start in Round 2 with four birdies on the front nine to finish the round at 1-under. He is at even par for the tournament.
“We need to continue to focus on us and doing the simple things well,” Smith continued, “I’m proud of the grit and toughness we have shown. I’m looking forward to another great opportunity to grow and learn tomorrow.”
Senior Ford Clegg came back from a tough front nine with a 1-under back nine. Sophomore Pedro Silva Cruz and sophomore Loïc Ettlin both finished the second round at 5-over.
The final round of the Carmel Cup tees off on Sunday at 9:10 a.m. CT. Live stats will be available on Golfstat.com.
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