Mississippi State started Southeastern Conference play on a positive note Friday night with a 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16 road win over South Carolina, winning its sixth straight match overall.
The Bulldogs (7-3, 1-0 SEC) got 17 kills from fifth-year senior Karli Schmidt and 16 from grad transfer Kailin Newsome, with veteran Amina Shackelford adding 11 and sophomore Arissa Smith contributing 10. Smith made just one attacking error on 16 swings for a .563 hitting percentage.
Newsome also was a force on the defensive end with 10 digs, and defensive specialists Mary Neal and McKenna Yates joined her in double figures. MSU’s two setters, Erin Kline and Ceci Harness, had 27 and 20 assists, respectively, with neither committing an error.
After falling behind 11-5 and 21-16 in the first set, the Bulldogs battled back, with Schmidt and Smith helping key a 7-1 run. Shackelford’s kill brought up set point, and MSU closed it out on a block by Schmidt and Rebecca Walk.
The Bulldogs dropped the first three points of the second set, and it was back and forth before MSU won five straight points to take a 21-15 lead. Smith and Newsome teamed up for a block to give the visitors a two sets to none lead.
Set three went to the Gamecocks (9-3, 0-1), as the Bulldogs could never quite string a run together. But MSU finished off the match in the fourth, using a 9-1 run to snap a 14-14 tie behind Newsome, Smith and Shackelford. Walk’s kill on match point put South Carolina away.
The Bulldogs return to Starkville this weekend to host LSU on Friday and No. 20 Tennessee on Sunday.
“What a way to start SEC play. Love to start conference play 1-0,” MSU head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. “I’m just really proud of this team. We had an incredible defense across the board. Our blockers and backout were both scrappy and relentless. We handled the ball exceptionally well and got our middles going early.”
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