Bulldogs embark on three-match stretch over next five days
Mississippi State’s volleyball team embarks on three matches over the next five days as the Bulldogs start November with a midweek tilt versus Alabama today at the Newell-grissom Building.
The Bulldogs (17-5, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) have climbed into a second-place tie with No. 23 Florida in the SEC standings on the strength of a five-match winning streak, the longest streak in program history during conference play. State and Florida enter the week 1.5 matches behind league leader and No. 5 Kentucky.
The Bulldogs sit at No. 30 in this week’s RPI rankings. Mississippi State has defeated five teams ranked among the RPI’S top 50 this season, headed by four teams during its current winning streak.
Today’s first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. The match will be televised nationally by SEC Network and streamed online courtesy of www.espn.com/watch and the ESPN app.
“It was different having a week between matches, but it was much needed for our team,” MSU head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. “We had some time off, and we also had practices where we could work and focus on us before talking about another opponent. We’re going to play a lot of volleyball coming up. We need to be focused on each opponent, each set and each match.
“We continue to talk about climbing the mountain and putting the work in so we can have a good rest of the season. We’re not talking about things that are too far in front of us. We’re focusing on league play because we know that anyone can beat anyone on any given night in this tough conference. The girls are really doing a good job on staying focused and locking in on what’s in-front of them.”
The Bulldogs continue to check in among the SEC’S top six in kills per set (13.80 – fourth), assists per set (12.58 – fourth) and hitting percentage (.242 – sixth). State has won 32 of its 34 sets for the season when posting a .300 attack ratio or better.
Gabby Waden, Lauren Myrick and Shania Cromartie continue to do the heavy lifting from the outside. The trio has accounted for a combined 40 outings of 10-plus kills this season.
Waden is on the cusp of becoming the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills as she enters today’s action nine away from the milestone. Her 3.89 kills per set are third, her 4.20 points per set are fifth and her .352 hitting percentage is eighth on the conference leaderboard during SEC matches. Waden has cranked 15plus kills in eight of her 10 SEC outings.
For the season, Waden has
powered home a team-leading 3.44 kills per set and a .343 hitting percentage. Her 15 matches of 10-plus kills is just outside the SEC’S top 10. She is coming off a 20-kill, five-block performance at Georgia (10/27).
“I think it’s cool that Gabby has set this goal, and she has a good chance of reaching this goal,” Dennis said. “Knowing Gabby, she wants to win much more than getting to 1,000 kills.”