Sania's Back Home In Houston This Weekend

Friday, September 3

Houston, Texas

10:00 AM

Mississippi State

McNeese State

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Sania's Back Home In Houston This Weekend

September 02, 2021 | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)Watch ($): MSU vs. Houston [Friday - 6:30 PM]Live Stats - MSU vs. McNeese State [Friday - 10 AM]Live Stats - MSU vs. Houston [Friday - 6:30 PM]Live Stats - MSU vs. ULM [Saturday - 2 PM]

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

HOUSTON, Texas – Mississippi State's volleyball program will look to build on an undefeated opening weekend when the Bulldogs hit the road for the first time in 2021 to take on McNeese State, host Houston and Louisiana-Monroe over the Labor Day weekend at the Fertitta Center on the UH campus.

The Bulldogs (3-0) protected their home court at last weekend's StarkVegas Classic and captured a pair of sweeps over Gonzaga, coupled with a four-set victory over Southeastern Louisiana.

Mississippi State turns its attention to tilts with McNeese State on Friday at 10 a.m. CT, Houston on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT and Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. Friday's matchup with Houston will be streamed live courtesy of the subscription-based ESPN+ available at www.WatchESPN.com.

"This is a huge weekend for us," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "I thought our offense was very balanced last weekend. It was nice to see that we were getting production from a lot of people. We were more polished and much cleaner as the weekend went on. We were able to get into a good offensive rhythm once we figured ourselves out."

Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean have conducted State's balanced 6-2 offensive attack to the SEC's most kills per set at 16.10. The Bulldogs powered home over a .300 hitting percentage during all three matches last weekend. Coulter and Dean teamed up for 12.30 assists per set, which would hold the SEC's top spot for setters if running a 5-1 system. Dean heads into this weekend's action 11 assists away from joining Coulter in the 1,000 assists club for their careers.

Lauren Myrick, the StarkVegas Classic MVP, made an impact in a variety of ways for the Bulldogs where she tucked away 4.10 kills, 3.10 digs, 0.50 aces and 4.75 points per set last weekend. All four marks currently rank inside the SEC's top 10. Myrick slapped double-digit kills in all three matches already surpassing her total from the last season.

Gabby Waden has pumped home 3.40 kills and 0.80 blocks per set. The 2020-21 All-SEC selection saved her best performance for State's grind-out-style win over Southeastern Louisiana with 19 kills, five blocks and four digs. The 21.5 points tied for the third-most among SEC players last weekend.

MSU's middle attack of Sania Petties and Deja Robinson has combined to churn out an impressive 3.90 kills and 1.98 blocks per set. Both players are connecting at over a .425 ratio, which sits just outside the SEC's top 10. Petties gets the opportunity to play in her hometown of Houston, Texas.

Shania Cromartie has worked her way to 2.40 kills and 3.40 digs per set as a six-rotation option, while Jessica Kemp provided 2.10 kills and 0.50 blocks per set. Kemp was extremely effective and efficient with 16 kills on 22 swings and a blistering .636 hitting clip during State's last two matches.

"It's really cool to watch Shania come back and go into a six-rotation outside role," Dennis said. "I thought she handled the ball really well. To see her come back and handle a heavy load after not playing a lot last season, I thought she did really well. Lauren had an outstanding weekend. I was happy to see her be consistent and put together three strong matches."

"I thought Deja was a little bit under the radar with her numbers, but I thought for us to be successful she's going to have to up in transition and do that again," Dennis continued. "Sania was a bright spot as a freshman coming in and starting. I thought our setters did a really good job of running the offense. Our offense isn't going to be that balanced and efficient if they're not putting up good balls. Margaret and Gabby definitely deserve some praise for their efforts."

Lilly Gunter anchored the back row with 4.10 digs, 1.50 assists and 0.30 aces per set en route to all-tournament team honors a weekend ago. The 4.10 digs were fourth-highest among SEC liberos. She sprawled out for a career-high 21 digs and added seven assists against Southeastern Louisiana. Gunter has notched double digit digs in 11 of her last 13 matches dating back to last season.

"It's another challenging weekend having three matches over a 26-hour span which is a lot of volleyball over a short amount of time," Dennis said. "We're definitely going to be prepared and present for every single match, but I do think the Houston match is circled for us. However, we're not going to overlook any opponent. We're going to respect and be present with each one."

"Houston is a fantastic program, an NCAA Tournament team in my opinion," Dennis continued. "They had an outstanding first weekend going 3-0 with wins over Oklahoma, Oregon State, and Lipscomb. They have a lot of tools. We've worked super hard at practice this week on different things – serving pressure, making sure we're polished up and ready to go. Our team is a group that continues to be ready to compete. We felt good about what we accomplished last weekend, but we also know we have to smooth out some things to have success this weekend."

Mississippi State is in the midst of back-to-back road weekends. The Bulldogs return home to the friendly confines of the Newell-Grissom Building to wrap up their non-conference slate with Syracuse, South Alabama and Jackson State from September 17-19 at the Hail State Invitational.

Admission is free for all home volleyball matches with gates opening one hour prior to first serve.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the volleyball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateVB' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.