Volleyball

HOUSTON – Mississippi State finished 1-1 during the first day of play at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup, falling to McNeese State 3-0, before ending the day with a 3-1 victory against Stetson.

The Bulldogs are now 6-4 this year after losing to McNeese State (20-25, 11-25, 18-25) and defeating Stetson in four (2520, 17-25, 25-8, 25-17).

"I like the way we responded after the loss (Friday) morning,” third-year coach David McFatrich said. “I thought we brought more energy, and we were technically better as well."

To open up the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup, MSU faced off against McNeese State. Set one started off slow as the Bulldogs could not get going offensively. Multiple errors gave McNeese a seven-point lead in the middle of the set. Four kills by former Starkville High School player Khristian Carr allowed State to narrow the lead, but McNeese State won the first set 25-20.

The second and third sets were similar in nature for the Bulldogs. Carr and Laura Rose Gray each had two kills and two points in the second set. Unfortunately, errors were MSU's Achilles Heel as McNeese State capitalized on them and won 25-11 in set two. Carr got the first point on the board with a kill to start the third. Despite a back-and-forth battle in the third set, errors were the deciding factor yet again. McNeese State won the third set 25-18.

For the second and final match of the day, MSU battled it out against Stetson.

The first set featured a hard-fought battle between the two teams. Each squad was no more than three points ahead than the other the entire set until the very end. Carr was the difference maker for the team, tallying six kills and a .500 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs won set one 25-20.

MSU struggled offensively getting started in the second set as errors and kills were the theme. State fought back hard, but was unable to surpass Stetson's lead in a 25-17 loss.

The third and the fourth sets were very similar in nature as Stetson was unable to score more than 17 points in either.

For the Bulldogs, communication was there during the final two sets, and a kills-battle ensued. Between sets three and four, Carr tallied 12 kills. MSU went on to defeat Stetson in set three 25-8 and in set four 25-17