Bulldogs Drop Three Setter in Lexington

Friday, November 9

Lexington, Ky.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

5-21, 1-12SEC

Kentucky

19-4, 13-0SEC

Mississippi State

Kentucky

Mississippi State fell to No. 11 Kentucky on Friday (Nov. 9).

Bulldogs Drop Three Setter in Lexington

November 09, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Mary Catherine Molay, Graduate Assistant/Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.- Even with immense effort on the court, Mississippi State (5-21, 1-12 SEC) fell to No. 11 Kentucky (19-4, 13-0 SEC) in three on Friday (Nov. 9) in Memorial Coliseum.

Mississippi State fell to No. 11 Kentucky, 25-15, 25-17, 25-14.

"I'm really proud of our defensive effort tonight," head coach Julie Darty said. "I thought that we started off with a ton of energy and our execution in following our game plan was really clean. The changes we've made defensively have really paid off, I thought our block was communicating a lot better and our eyework was a lot better. I feel like we got a lot more touches defensively, and for a while, were pretty neck-and-neck with them in digs and blocks. Across the board, I'm really proud of what we did in Sets 1 and 2. The overall product is improving, and I'm proud of where we are."

Mississippi State fought neck-and-neck with Kentucky to start the set as the score was tied at 6. UK then went on a 4-0 run to propel to a comfortable lead, 10-6. The Bulldogs struggled to stop the Wildcats' attack game. No. 11 Kentucky went on to take the set on a kill, 25-15. Khristian Carr Amarrah Cooks and Deja Robinson had two kills apiece. The two teams tied with 3.0 blocks.

A pair of service aces and kills allowed Kentucky to take a 4-0 lead to start the second set. Similarly to the first set, MSU struggled to stop UK's attack game as the team hit .256. Despite Mississippi State's rally of four points off of Kentucky errors and one kill to make the score, 19-16, MSU was unable to capture the set falling, 25-17. Paige Shaw had four kills with two digs and one block. Kendall Murr had four digs, and Morgan Kath had nine assists.

Kentucky took the early 10-5 lead in the beginning of set three. The Bulldogs struggled to regain control and stop UK's attack game. The Wildcat's went on to take the set and the match, 25-14, as the Wildcats hit .393 for the set.

Mississippi State is at home for its next home match welcoming No. 23 Tennessee to Starkville on Sunday, Nov. 11. First serve is set for 1 p.m. on the SEC Network+.

Dawg Bites from Friday

Robinson tallied four total blocks. That puts her in 8th place for most total blocks as a freshman with 73. She is five blocks away from a three-way tie with Leticia Valente (2014) and teammate Liv Benner (2017) with 78.
Shaw had seven kills and one block
Carr, Cooks and Robinson had five kills each
Kath had two kills and 24 assists

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