Challenging Road Weekend In Atlanta

Thursday, September 9

Atlanta, Ga.

10:00 AM

Mississippi State

Indiana

Photo by: Maria Lysaker

Challenging Road Weekend In Atlanta

September 08, 2021 | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)Watch: MSU vs. Georgia Tech [ACC Network+]Live Stats - MSU vs. Indiana [Thursday - 10 AM CT]Live Stats - MSU vs. Georgia Tech [Thursday - 6 PM CT]Live Stats - MSU vs. Oklahoma [Friday - 4 PM CT]

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

ATLANTA, Georgia – Mississippi State's volleyball team faces a challenging road trip versus a trio of fellow Power 5 opponents as the Bulldogs square off against Indiana, host No. 21 Georgia Tech and Oklahoma at O'Keefe Gymnasium starting Thursday at the Georgia Tech Classic.

The Bulldogs (5-1) posted a 3-0 mark at its home tournament from August 27-28 on opening weekend and won two of three matches last weekend at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup in Houston.

Mississippi State is set to battle Indiana from the Big Ten Conference on Thursday at 10 a.m. CT, No. 21 Georgia Tech from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT and Oklahoma from the Big 12 Conference on Friday at 4 p.m. CT. Thursday's meeting against Georgia Tech will be streamed live courtesy of ACC Network+ and available online courtesy at www.ESPN.com/watch.

"We're excited to face three tough teams – one each from the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "There's not one match that we can circle and say 'This match is easier than the other.' We felt the push against Houston last weekend, and we felt the test. Being up in the fifth set and not being able to finish the job stung a little bit. However, the sting has been a good thing for this group."

"We are excited to have another chance to compete," Dennis continued. "It's about every opportunity to get better. We talked a bit about peaking at the right time. The schedule is very similar to what we played at Houston with two matches on the first day and then one match on the second day. We know we are prepared for that. We had a quick turnaround this week, but I feel we are growing and trending in the right direction. We saw a lot of people get opportunities last weekend. That was really good for the team to get a lot of people a lot of time to build confidence and composure for this group."

Heading into the third weekend of the young season, Mississippi State possesses a top five SEC mark in kills (14.86 – 1st), assists (13.19 – 2nd) and digs (14.90 – 4th). The Bulldogs have already had five players recognized on all-tournament teams over the first two weekends.

"Having five players earn all-tournament recognition shows that we are balanced right now," Dennis said. "Everybody is doing their job, and everyone is stepping up. It's great that other coaches are noticing that we have some depth. We have people that are doing a good job to get noticed, but they're also doing it at different times."

"It's interesting to see that the first weekend it was Lilly [Gunter], Gabby [Waden], and Lauren [Myrick]," Dennis added. "At Houston, it was Shania [Cromartie] and Sania [Petties]. It will be good for some other people to step up this weekend and continue to push the envelope. I'm not saying we are in it for the recognition, but I think it's pretty cool when those kids get the recognition they deserve. Everyone is working super hard."

Sania Petties and Deja Robinson have ripped .449 and .444 hitting percentages, respectively, to rank fifth and sixth on the SEC leaderboard. The duo has combined for 4.02 kills and 2.03 blocks per set. Their best combined effort on the season was a 21-kill performance at Houston. Robinson has racked up five-plus blocks on two occasions, and her 1.20 blocks per set are eighth in the SEC rankings. Petties' .449 attacking mark is tops among SEC freshmen.

Like Petties last weekend in Houston, Robinson gets the opportunity to play close to her hometown. Petties was an All-Tournament team pick at last weekend's Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup.

Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean have quarterbacked State's strong 6-2 offense to over a .300 hitting clip in 10 of 21 frames on the season. Coulter and Dean have dished out a combined 11.05 assists per set, which would rank second among SEC setters if running a 5-1 system.

Dean joined Coulter in the 1,000 career assists club for their careers last weekend. Her 28 assists against Houston were the third-highest for her career, while Coulter has dialed up three double-doubles, headed by back-to-back efforts to conclude last weekend.

Lilly Gunter has spearheaded State's back line with 3.62 digs, 1.38 assists and 0.19 aces per set. The 3.62 digs check in ninth among SEC liberoes. The Oviedo, Florida, native has collected 10-plus digs in five of her six matches this season and in 13 of 16 matches dating back to last season.

Lauren Myrick has fired in a team-leading 69 kills and reached double digit kills in five of her six starts. She has compiled 3.29 kills, 2.95 digs and 0.43 blocks and 0.33 aces per set. Myrick popped 15 kills and added a career-high 17 digs at Houston last weekend.

Gabby Waden has powered home 10-plus kills and been involved in at least four blocks during three of her last four outings. The 2020-21 All-SEC honoree has clocked 3.10 kills on a .320 hitting percentage, while her 74.0 points on the season are second on the squad, only behind Myrick.

Shania Cromartie, an All-Tournament selection from a weekend ago, has managed 2.50 kills and 2.55 digs per set as a six-rotation outside hitter. She tucked away her first career double-double with a season's best 13 kills to go along with 11 digs at Houston. Jessica Kemp has tacked on 1.72 kills, 0.67 digs and 0.44 blocks per set.

"Success this weekend starts with composure and belief," Dennis said. "Our team has to stay composed in those big moments. That is something we talked about during and after the Houston match. At first, we didn't channel that emotion for the positive. It's important that we are able to keep our composure, while staying confident and aggressive. We need to trust in one another and trust our process. We need to have belief that we can do it, and we are supposed to be here. I feel the players have done a great job of understanding that it's not going to be easy. It's a right here, right now kind of mentality."

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.