Mississippi State scored the first seven points of Sunday’s match against rival Ole Miss in Oxford, but the Rebels rallied back to take the first set 30-28, then took the next two by 25-15 scores to sweep the Bulldogs and split the season series.
With Mary Neal serving for MSU (12-14, 5-11 Southeastern Conference), Amina Shackelford delivered two kills, Sophie Agee and Rebecca Walk had one each and Neal recorded an ace during the Bulldogs’ initial 7-0 run. Ole Miss (11-17, 5-12) forced its way back into the set, staving off four MSU set points. The Bulldogs twice denied the Rebels from closing it out, but could not do so a third time as Sasha Ratliff came up with a block against Caylee Sharkey.
The teams went back and forth again in the second set, but the hosts gradually took control, taking five straight points to grab a two-sets-to-none lead. MSU threw the first punch in the third set as well, but could not find any consistency on offense. The Bulldogs hit .097 in the match despite 12 kills from Karli Schmidt and 10 from Shackelford.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, hit better than .300 in both the second and third sets, as Aly Borellis orchestrated the Rebels’ offense with 38 assists. The Ole Miss defense also came up big — three Rebels finished in double figures in digs, led by Cammy Niesen’s 17.
MSU has two matches remaining before the end of the season. The Bulldogs visit No. 8 Tennessee on Wednesday, then come back home to take on LSU on Saturday.
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