Bulldogs Fall in Three to LSU

Friday, November 2

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

5-20, 1-11SEC

LSU

8-14, 3-9SEC

LSU

Mississippi State

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

November 02, 2018 | Volleyball

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Carr leads Bulldogs with nine kills vs. LSU

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – A tightly contest first set slipped away late for the Mississippi State volleyball program (5-20, 1-11 SEC), as the Bulldogs dropped a three-set decision (21-25, 12-25, 16-25) to visiting LSU (8-14, 3-9 SEC) on Friday (Nov. 2) evening inside the Newell-Grissom Building.

"Tonight was a tough loss," said head coach Julie Darty. "I thought we came out with some good energy in the first set, but after that first set got away from us, it kind of deflated us. I feel like we tried a lot of different lineups off the bench [later in the match] and tried to get some energy going any way we could. I thought [the student-athletes] that came off the bench did a good job and were a little bit of a spark for us. Our effort and the energy are the two things we have to work on the most. You can't teach effort and you can't teach energy.

"I thought we had a good game plan, but when you don't execute your game plan it is really hard to pull off a win. We have a long week ahead of us before we go play the top team in the SEC in Kentucky. We have to find a way to squeeze out some good volleyball down the stretch this season. I know that we have [good volleyball] in us, we just have to find a way right now."

Senior Khristian Carr led the Bulldogs attack with nine kills, while freshman Deja Robinson added seven successful swings on 11 errorless attacks. Robinson also had one solo block – the only block on the night for MSU – to push her season total to 20 solo blocks and move into a tie for No. 4 on the single-season freshman solo blocks charts with Jennifer Shupe (1996). Sophomore libero Kendall Murr added 10 digs for her 23rd double-digit dig match of the season.

No more than three points separated the two teams for most of the first set, as Mississippi State exchanged scoring runs with LSU for most of the set. After LSU grabbed the early 3-0 lead, Mississippi State answered with six of the next eight points to grab a 6-5 edge, before siding out the next five points to make it 8-7 Bulldogs. MSU built its largest lead at three points, 14-11, after back-to-back attacking errors by the Tigers, and eventually led 18-17 on a service ace from Alleah Stamatis. From there, LSU closed the first set strong, tallying eight of the final 11 points, including six-straight during one service rotation, to grab the 25-21 victory in the opening set.

The second set was all Tigers, as LSU pushed out to a 10-3 advantage via 6-0 spurt that included five kills and a service ace. The lead swelled to 10 points, 15-5, as LSU's offense continued to click in the second set. Mississippi State score four of the next six points to cut the deficit to 17-9, but the Tigers closed out the set with eight of the final 11 tallies, to take set two, 25-12.

The first and third sets were mirror images of one another, with the two teams battling through a tight start, but LSU pulling away down the stretch. The two teams nearly traded side-out points for the first 17 tallies, with Mississippi State taking its first lead at 9-8 after an AJ Koele kill and an LSU attacking error. From there, LSU reeled off five-straight points to grab a 13-9 lead and MSU could not stop the Tigers attack. Overall, LSU out-scored MSU 17-7 after the Bulldogs grabbed the 9-8 advantage, including nine kills, to grab the final set 25-16.

Dawg Bites vs. LSU
- Senior Khristian Carr led MSU with nine kills.
- Sophomore Kendall Murr tallied 10 digs for her 23rd double-digit dig match of the season.
- Freshman Deja Robinson chipped in seven kills on 11 swings for a .636 hitting percentage.
- Robinson chipped in MSU's only block on the night, marking her 20th solo block of the season. She is now tied for No. 4 on the single-season freshman solo blocks charts with Jennifer Shupe (20; 1996).

Next Match
Mississippi State have seven days between matches, as the Bulldogs will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to face the No. 12 Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 9. First sever between the Bulldogs and the SEC-leading Wildcats will go off at 6 p.m. CT and stream live on SEC Network+, which can also be seen live on the ESPN App.

Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on Mississippi State volleyball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateVB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."