Volleyball Falls in Tight Three-Setter to Florida

Sunday, October 28

Starkville

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

5-19 (1-10SEC)

Florida

19-4 (10-1SEC)

Florida

Mississippi State

Volleyball Falls in Tight Three-Setter to Florida

October 28, 2018 | Volleyball

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Shaw leads Mississippi State with 11 kills, Cooks chips in eight kills and four blocks

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications (814.876.0824)

STARKVILLE – It was tight throughout, but Mississippi State (5-19, 1-10 SEC) fell to No. 13 Florida (19-4, 10-1) in three sets (18-25, 21-25, 20-25) on Sunday (Oct. 28) inside the Newell-Grissom Building. The Bulldogs held leads in each set, but the Gators were able to overcome a tough defensive effort by State to walk away with the conference win.

"Today felt different," said head coach Julie Darty. "I felt like the vibe was pretty loose with our group and we played pretty relaxed, which I really liked. I think that helped our confidence and we seemed very confident the entire match. Right now, there were certain parts of our game plan that we need to fine-tune and polish up in practice, but we are getting there. Certain rotations are still stronger than others for us, but I'm proud of my Bulldogs today.

"I thought our defensive effort was good and that's something we've been focusing on that a lot in practice each week, playing hard defense and digging as many balls as we can. I was really proud of that. With efficiency, we need to be better as attackers. This was one of those matches where you can take big risks and big swings, and I thought we did a really good job. We're excited about getting to work and hosting LSU next Friday."

For the match, Paige Shaw led Mississippi State with 11 kills, including six in the second set, added six digs and posted three total blocks. Amarrah Cooks chipped in eight successful swings and led the team with four total blocks. Libero Kendall Murr totaled 14 digs, while setter Alleah Stamatis handed out 17 assists to go along with nine digs.

The Bulldogs came out on the attack in the opening set, as Taylor Haskins opened things up with a service ace, followed by a service error. MSU then took a 4-1 lead thanks to a block by Laura Rose Gray and Shaw, and kills from Cooks and Shaw. Florida responded with an eight-point run, using five kills and three State errors, to build a 9-4 edge and force a MSU timeout. Three kills from Cooks, one from Page and a pair of Florida errors helped the Bulldogs storm back following the timeout and knot the score at 10. The set remained close, as MSU was within one point, 15-14, after a Khristian Carr kill, however, Florida would score 10 of the next 14 points to secure the set-one win, 25-18.

In set two, Mississippi State again struck first, getting a kill from Gabby Waden to open the set, before Cooks and Shaw combined on a block to make it 2-0 in favor of the Maroon and White. Each side would string together small spurts of points, but neither could pull away in the early part of set two, as a Waden kill pulled State within one point at 10-9. From there, Florida was able to gain some distance, using a 10-3 run to build a 20-12 advantage. MSU pushed back, scoring nine of the final 14 points to cut into the lead, but the Gators eventually claimed the second set, 25-21, on a block at the net.

The third set was nip-and-tuck from the opening serve, with neither team building more than a three-point cushion mid-way through the set. State took the early edge, building a 4-1 advantage thanks to a pair of successful swings by Cooks, a service ace by Shaw and a UF attacking error. Florida would fight back to grab the lead at 7-6 on a Marlie Monserez kill, before the two teams would trade side out points for the next few service rotations. The Gators looked to take control of the set with a stretch of five out of eight points, making it 19-15 in favor of Florida, but State responded with four of the next five tallies to trim the margin to just one, 20-19. Florida, however, scored five of the final six points to claim the set, 25-20. Overall, set three featured seven ties and three lead changes.

Dawg Bites vs. Florida
- Freshman Paige Shaw led MSU in kills with 11.
- Sophomore Alleah Stamatis paced Mississippi State with 19 assists.
- Stamatis added nine digs and one service ace.
- Junior Amarrah Cooks collected eight kills and a team-high four blocks.
- Sophomore Kendall Murr paced State with 14 digs.
- Sophomore Gabby Zgunda collected her second kill of the season, with the other coming on Oct. 21 at Ole Miss. It is the third-career kill for the defensive specialist.

Next Match
Mississippi State will host LSU inside the Newell-Grissom Building on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. The match will stream live on SEC Network+, which can also be seen live on the ESPN App.

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