Led by strong offensive showings from Amina Shackelford, Sophie Agee and Karli Schmidt, Mississippi State emphatically snapped a four-game losing streak with a four-set victory over No. 14 Florida on Friday evening.
The Bulldogs trailed early in the first set before reeling off 11 straight points, taking advantage of seven Gators errors during the run. Florida rallied back to trim its nine-point deficit to four, but MSU (9-8, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) held the Gators off, closing out the set on a kill by Schmidt. Shackelford led the Bulldogs with a season-high 18 kills, Agee added 16 and Schmidt chipped in with 13.
“I talked to Amina before the match about a couple things that she had to do if we were going to be in it,” MSU head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. “The serves she had at the end and the numbers she had tonight was an absolutely incredible performance for her. I am really excited for our team.”
The Bulldogs led by three on two occasions in the second set, but a 9-1 Florida run put the Gators (12-4, 4-3) in control. Kennedy Martin and AC Fitzpatrick led the visitors with 18 and 17 kills, respectively, while setter Kennedy Muff orchestrated the offense with 48 assists.
The teams traded brief scoring runs in the back-and-forth third set, and MSU finished it in extra points with three kills from Schmidt. The fourth set was also tight throughout until the Bulldogs took the last five points, clinching the win on a Shackelford kill.
Emily Oerther helped set up MSU’s trio of attackers with 29 assists and Mary Kline added 17, both season highs. Lauren Myrick led the charge defensively with 20 digs.
The Bulldogs will hit the road next Friday to take on No. 23 Kentucky, then return home Sunday,
Oct. 22 to host rival Ole Miss.
“This is a great win for our program, for our fans and for our future,” Darty Dennis said. “All week we’ve been talking about playing with intensity and focus. When you play a team like Florida, you’re going to have to play hard because they’re going to want to go hard as well. I am proud of the way we raised our level.”
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