Mississippi State
Alabama
Bulldogs Top Tide 3-1 For Third Straight SEC Win
January 01, 1970 | Volleyball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Freshman Martina Gregusova delivered 18 kills and junior setter Eva Kriegel notched her third triple-double of the season Sunday afternoon as Mississippi State (14-8, 5-7 SEC) topped Alabama 3-1 (30-15, 30-28, 29-31, 30-28) at the Newell-Grissom Building. The win snapped a 14-match series win streak by Alabama (13-8, 8-4 SEC) and gave MSU its fourth league win in its last five outings, including a school record-tying three straight.
Gregusova, the SEC Freshman of the Week last week, tallied 18 kills and a career-high 16 digs to complete an impressive week for MSU. The rookie from Nitra, Slovakia notched a double-double with 19 kills and 12 digs in MSU's 3-1 Wednesday night win at Mississippi.
I'm proud of the way our players competed and fought through adversity today, said third-year MSU head coach Tina Seals. Last year we had a 2-0 lead in our match at home against Alabama and we let it slip away. But today, after we lost our tempo in game three against a talented Alabama team, we found a way to fight back. It shows how this team is maturing, and as a coaching staff we're obviously pleased to see that maturity coming through. This was a match where everybody took turns at contributing in a big way.
State led from start to finish in an impressive 30-15 opening game win. Martina Gregusova delivered six kills and junior middle Erin Seago delivered a pair of solo blocks as MSU bolted to a 4-1 lead and stretched the advantage to as many as 16 points at 22-6 before salting the opening set away on a service ace by freshman Jennifer Hauskey.
The Bulldogs did not trail but found themselves in a close battle in game two. The set was tied six times, the last at 27-27 on a kill by Brooks Webster. Despite being out-hit .312 to .283 in the game, the Bulldogs rode another six-kill showing by Gregusova and got a pair of solo blocks by Orshi Kriegel to take game two 30-28.
Alabama junior Crystal Hudson, who last week was honored as both the SEC and the AVCA National Player of the Week, tallied five kills in seven attempts and sparked the Crimson Tide to a hard-fought 31-29 decision. MSU rallied late, battling back from a 27-23 deficit to knot the score at 29-29 before a pair of MSU mistakes, a service error and a ball-handling call, enabled Alabama to take the set.
Outside hitter Orshi Kriegel, the lone senior on the Bulldog team, stepped up her play and provided the spark that lifted the Bulldogs to a 30-28 match-clinching win in game four. Kriegel drilled five kills in the set, including the last two of the match. Alabama raced to a 4-1 leads and never trailed until Ioana Demian's kill put State on top briefly at 11-10. A kill by Jamie Joyner snapped a 12-12 deadlock and ignite a momentum-swinging 6-1 run.
Alabama, which entered the weekend as co-leaders in the SEC West, staged a final push, cutting the MSU lead to a point at 28-27. But Kriegel came through with the final two points on kills as MSU earned its first win over Alabama since 1998.
Joyner finished with a season-high 14 kills and Orshi Kriegel added 11. Junior setter Eva Kriegel registered her third triple-double of the season and the seventh of her career, piling up 10 kills, 44 assists and 10 digs. Kriegel hit .562 for the match and served up four of MSU's 12 aces.
MSU got another strong defensive performance from junior libero Megan Lukasek with a match-high 22 digs. Megan has come up with so many big plays for us lately, especially in the area of serve receptions, said Seals. Her steady play has been critical to our success lately.
The Bulldogs also registered a season-high six solo blocks and eight total team blocks for the match. Seago, who now leads MSU with 56 total blocks, registered a career-best three solo stops. Orshi Kriegel added two and Joyner one.
Alabama got a 16-kill, four-block, .452 hitting performance from Crystal Hudson. Bridget Fuetez reached double-double status with 10 kills and 11 digs. Rachel Green added 10 kills and four blocks whileAmy Pauly paced UA on defense with 20 digs. Brigitte Slack and Megan Hudson also reached double figures in digs with 13 apiece.
MSU continues league play on the road in the coming weekend, closing out its October schedule with matches at Tennessee Friday (Oct. 27) and Kentucky Sunday (Oct. 29).
