Bulldogs see improvement in loss

A much improved and competitive effort was something that Mississippi State volleyball coach Julie Darty Dennis wanted during Thursday’s match against the Missouri Tigers.

She felt the Bulldogs gave her that.

Even though MSU was swept again by 24th-ranked Missouri 3-0 at Newell-grissom Building, Darty Dennis liked the progress made by the team.

“Our goal this morning was to be better than we were the day before, and we were focused on each point,” Darty

Dennis said. “As long as we can continue to trend in the right direction and focus on the small victories as a team, we will get a lot out of this season. That’s the goal right now.

“We’re just trying to make this a learning experience, and we’re just trying to mature. We did a much better job offensively. We were more dialed in defensively, and it was a much more positive atmosphere today. The effort was really intense and it was consistently better volleyball.”

The Bulldogs lost the first set 25-23, then the second set 2521. The Tigers jumped out to a lead in the third set, but MSU closed the gap to 11-9 and 1613 before losing 25-18.

Darty Dennis was busy shuffling players in and out of the lineup to get a look at several different combinations on the court.

“We definitely wanted to try to get a lot of people in to see if anyone’s serve was working against their patterns,” Darty Dennis said. “We were focused on trying to score points from the service line and score points in bunches, so we were really trying to get after it back there and I was willing to give a lot of kids a go to see if they had it.

“We were toying with the 5-1 (system) a little in row four to see if we could side out a little better, and it helped us a little bit. As we finish up this spring season, we’re still trying to grow together as a team, and they’re really open and willing to try new things right now. That’s a huge positive for our group.”

The number 11 was popular among the Bulldog leaders on Thursday. Gabby Waden and Callie Minshew had 11 kills each, while Lilly Gunter had 11 digs.

MSU’S season may not be over at this point. The Bulldogs (4-13) may be able to reschedule some matches that were postponed due to coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols.