Mississippi State volleyball completes sweep against LSU

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Mississippi State’s volleyball team rode its momentum from SEC opening weekend into its SEC home opener en route to a nice-and-tidy 3-0 sweep of LSU [25-19, 25-21, 29-27] in-front of a raucous 637 fans on Friday evening at the Newell-Grissom Building.

The Bulldogs (11-4, 2-1 SEC) have defeated two of the SEC’s top three teams from the 2021 preseason coaches poll in Florida and LSU (5-7, 1-2 SEC). State improved to 2-1 in SEC action for the third time in program history joining the 2004 and 2016 squads. The Bulldogs also captured its first sweep over the Tigers dating back to 2015.

Gabby Waden brought the Maroon and White to the finish line with nine of her match-leading 15 kills during the third set. She amassed a .433 hitting percentage and added four blocks. Waden has pumped home double-digit kills in eight of her last 11 outings.

“Gabby was an All-SEC type player tonight, that’s for sure,” head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. “For her to hit .433 against the block that she had to go against and how physical LSU is, speaks to the work that she has put in. She’s worked so hard on her transition game, and we saw a lot of great swings in transition from her tonight. I’m very proud of her for having a match like this.”

Lauren Myrick tacked on her fourth consecutive double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. She was dialed in on the serve-receive game and converted 31 of her 32 reception attempts.

Shania Cromartie, the reigning SEC Player and SEC Offensive Player of the Week, came away with nine kills, five digs and two blocks to supplement State’s three-headed pin attack.

Deja Robinson was impactful on the front line with seven kills on a .429 hitting ratio and delivered six blocks. She reached five-plus rejections on six occasions.

“Deja is another one that we’ve just been waiting and waiting to have a big match,” Dennis said. “We’re trying to set the middle’s more. To me, the setters and Deja connected the dots tonight. She was hitting that cut back, and she was finding space. Her blocks also were incredible tonight. I think that it was so awesome to end the match on a block from Deja. She’s been working so hard on being disciplined and pressed [on the block]. She got the job done tonight. I’m very proud for her, and I think this is the kind of match for her to build her confidence on.”

Gabby Coulter and Margaret Dean distributed 19 assists apiece. Dean also worked her way to a season’s best 13 digs to collect her third double-double for the season.

Lilly Gunter scooped up 11 digs to go along with two assists and an ace. State’s libero has secured 10-plus digs in 12 of her 14 appearances on the season.

As a team, Mississippi State compiled 46 kills and a .220 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs limited LSU to 34 kills and a paltry .095 attack mark.

Facing a 10-5 deficit during the opening stanza, Mississippi State ripped off seven of the next nine points to pull even at 12-12. The flurry was completed by a Robinson-Waden rejection coupled with Waden and Cromartie kills.

Down 19-18, Myrick brought the Bulldogs to a one-set advantage courtesy of a seven-point service run. State’s defense forced the Tigers into five hitting miscues, headed by two more Robinson-Waden stuffs. Robinson also secured a kill off an overpass, and Waden went crosscourt in transition over the LSU block.

The two teams also split the first 24 points of set two. State made its move up 16-15 with a Myrick kill down the line followed by back-to-back Waden spikes to make it 19-15.

The Tigers could only get as close as three points on five occasions. State had an answer each time sparked by a Cromartie kill down the line off a LSU defender, a Francesca McBride–Sania Petties block and a Robinson kill down the stretch to tuck away the 25-21 decision.

The third set was a nip-and-tuck affair showcased by 16 ties and six lead changes. Mississippi State was poised to get to the winner’s circle as a Robinson-Waden block was sandwiched between Myrick and Waden kills to vault the Bulldogs ahead from a 17-17 tie to a 20-17 edge.

LSU countered with three straight points of their own and a 6-1 spurt to snatch a 23-21 advantage. However, Waden put on her superhero cape and answered back with a trio of kills to bring the Bulldogs to match point at 24-23. Knotted up at 27-27, Petties took advantage of a LSU overpass with a powerful crosscourt kill followed by a Myrick-Robinson block to put the finishing touches on the sweep.

“I think with these back-to-back matches, it’s all about what you do in between,” Dennis said. “We talk about it all the time that we have to win the recovery battle. We have to prepare tomorrow just like we did today. I think that the team is going to be focused, and they’re going to be ready to go. I know that LSU is going to make some adjustments. They’re a very well-coached and talented team with very physical players. They’re going to respond, and they’re going to be a resilient group. We’re going to have to gut it out and play aggressive volleyball like we did tonight for us to have success tomorrow. I have a lot of confidence in my team that we’ll be able to do accomplish that.”

Mississippi State continues a stretch of five of seven matches to start October inside the Newell-Grissom Building. The Bulldogs meet LSU to close out a two-game weekend swing on Saturday.

First serve is slated for 4 p.m. CT. The match will be streamed online courtesy of SEC Network+ and available on the ESPN app. Admission is free for all home volleyball matches with gates opening one hour prior to first serve.