STARKVILLE — Mississippi State rebounded from a slow start to defeat Southern Miss in four sets Thursday evening, then swept the Golden Eagles on Friday afternoon to extend its winning streak to five straight matches heading into Southeastern Conference play.
The Bulldogs dropped the first set Thursday and had to come from behind in the second and third, then dominated the fourth for a 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-14 victory. They carried that momentum into Friday with a 25-8, 25-18, 25-19 straight-sets win.
“That’s the most focused I’ve seen this team so far this season,” MSU head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. “That’s a great way for us to finish non-conference before we go into SEC play. We talked about the team that we wanted to be. We wanted to blast the ball really well, we want to balance offense and manage risk.”
Grad transfer Kailin Newsome continued to pace the Bulldogs’ offense Thursday with 16 kills, while fifth-year seniors Rebecca Walk and Amina Shackelford had 13 and 11, respectively. Walk and Shackelford each hit better than .300, with setters Erin Kline and Ceci Harness facilitating.
MSU (6-3) trailed 19-17 in the second set, then won six of the next seven points to turn the tide and even the match. Down 15-12 in the third set, the Bulldogs won seven points in a row to swing things in their favor, and after trailing 6-3 early in the fourth set, MSU went on an 8-0 run that included two kills each from Newsome, Shackelford and sophomore Arissa Smith.
“It was a matter of playing to our standard, not playing down to another team’s standard,” Walk said. “We’re gritty. This team doesn’t give up. It’s really evident in practice; we put ourselves in situations where we’re down and we have to come back. The coaches do a really good job preparing us for situations when we’re down, and it shows.”
The Bulldogs reeled off 11 straight points in the first set Friday to take a commanding 15-2 lead, and never trailed in any of the three sets. Walk recorded kills on eight of her 10 swings for an .800 hitting percentage, and Smith had nine kills on 13 attacks without an error.
Smith played in just two matches as a freshman, but set a career high with nine kills Thursday and evened it in a shorter match Friday. She and Shackelford also had eight blocks apiece in Friday’s match.
“I give credit to what we did in the spring,” Smith said. “We really worked hard in the weight room, and it’s translated on to the court. Building the connection early on with my setters (Kline and Harness), that really helped me.”
Freshman McKenna Yates led the way defensively Friday with 19 digs, while no other MSU player had more than eight. Southern Miss (4-8) scored four straight points late in the third set to tighten things up a bit, but a kill from Smith fittingly closed things out.
The Bulldogs head to South Carolina for their SEC opener next Friday.
“The SEC, top to bottom, is so strong,” Darty Dennis said. “South Carolina is tough, but if we can stay healthy, we’ll be in a good spot to compete really well this year. Once we can use and establish the middles, everybody else’s job becomes a little bit easier with some space to open up. I’m just proud of our setters for running a really balanced offense.”
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