Match Stats
- MSU wins 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-22)
- MSU improves to 9-6, Tennessee falls to 9-4
Evie Grace Singleton‘s 12 kills led Mississippi State to a big SEC win over Tennessee on the road Friday night.
It was the conference opener for both teams after successful starts to the non-conference slate. But Mississippi State came out on top of three very tight sets to earn their 9th win of the season and knock off the Vols at home.
Both of the first two sets were tied at 20-20 at one point, but Mississippi State had the closing effort to win 26-24 and 25-23. From there, the Bulldogs went up 19-10 in the third and coasted to the match win, though Tennessee did fight off four match points.
Singleton led MSU in kills, but Emily Hill and Jelena Vujcin joined her in the double digits with 10 apiece. Defensively, Blosson Sato had 12 digs.
Tennessee got 14 kills out of Bri Holmes and 13 from Tessa Grubbs, plus 11 digs from Brooke Schumacher in the loss.
Press Releases
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It had been 10 years since Mississippi State opened up the SEC season with a win.
The keyword being “had”.
The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs (9-6, 1-0 SEC) reversed their SEC opener fortunes on Friday night, sweeping the Tennessee Volunteers (9-4, 0-1 SEC) at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
“That was such an impressive performance by our girls and I could not be more proud of how this team performed,” coach David McFatrich said. “We talked pregame about coming out strong and we did just that. You have to give Tennessee credit, especially for playing so strong at the end, but these girls weren’t going to let this one go without getting a win.”
Evie Grace Singleton, Emily Hill and Jelena Vujcin continued to fuel the MSU attack as they have all season. Singleton led all Bulldogs with 12 kills, while Hill and Vujcin each turned in 10.
Vujcin and Singleton were the keys to the Bulldogs’ opening set victory, as 6 of Vujcin’s 10 kills came in the opener, while Singleton turned in 4. Play was tight until a 5-1 run pushed the Vols into a 14-11 lead and forced a State timeout. Tennessee would maintain a three-point lead until aChelsea Duhs‘ kill kickstarted a Bulldog run that would push them ahead for good. UT would use one more run to draw within a point, but back-to-back kills from Vujcin sealed the deal as State went on to a 26-24 first set win.
The second set played much like the first, with a back-and-forth tone early on. This time State would lean on Singleton, as she paced the squad with 5 kills in the set. Vujcin and Singleton would spark a 7-1 run with consecutive kills and State would hold off another late UT rally to go into intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match, winning the second frame 25-23.
From there it was all Maroon and White, as Hill’s 4 kills led a Bulldog third set attack that the Vols could not keep up with. MSU would push its lead to as much as nine, up 19-10, before Tennessee would make one final attempt to get back in the match. UT would get as close as two, fighting off four State match points and forcing the visitors to call for timeout. However, that would be all it wrote for UT, as Vujcin sealed the match with her 10th kill, giving MSU the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
Sophomore Blossom Sato paced the Dogs in assists with 24 and digs with a season-high 12. The double-double is the third of the season for Sato.
Riley Duzenack turned in 14 assists to move up to sixth in the MSU freshman record book with 289 on the year.
Senior Bali Leffall-Young led MSU’s 8.0 block night with 5 total, while Singleton contributed 3 total denials, tying a season high.
The stats will show an even-fought match by both sides, as MSU and UT tied in kills (42) and assists (40) and were within two of each other in aces and blocks. The Vols did however win the hitting percentage battle, with a .278 clip to MSU’s .208, marking the first time this year that State has won a match when hitting worse than its opponent.
“I cannot say enough about how this was an excellent performance by the team as a whole.,” McFatrich said. “From our attackers to our blockers and everything in between. Tonight was special. Now we have to get our sights set on Kentucky and work to close out the weekend on a high note.”
The Bulldogs head north to Lexington, Ky., to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday. The weekend finale is set for a 12:30 p.m. CT first serve and will be broadcasted on SEC Network +.
Weekend Schedule…
Friday, Sept. 23
Mississippi State def. Tennessee, 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-22)
Sunday, Sept. 25
Mississippi State at Kentucky – 12:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Bulldogs Reverse SEC Opener Luck…
Friday’s win gave the Bulldogs something they haven’t had in a while…an SEC opener win. It marks the first for MSU since defeating Ole Miss 3-0 in 2006. It is also the first SEC road opening win for State since knocking off South Carolina 3-0 in 2004.
State Domination In Knoxville…
For the first time since 1994-95, the Dogs have earned back-to-back wins in Knoxville. The win is State’s second-straight W at Tennessee, as MSU won 3-1 in 2013.
Leading The Bulldogs…
Kills: Evie Grace Singleton, 12
Assists: Blossom Sato, 24
Aces: Evie Grace Singleton, 4
Digs: Blossom Sato, 12
Blocks: Bali Leffall-Young, 5
Points: Evie Grace Singleton, 18.0
Vols Win The Hitting Battle, MSU Wins The Match…
The key for MSU all season had been to win the hitting percentage battle. On Friday night, that changed. UT hit .278, besting MSU’s .204 clip, marking the first time all season that the Bulldogs have won a match when losing the attacking battle.
The First Set Remains The Key…
State is now 8-2 when capturing the first set after winning tonight’s match. To add to that, MSU is now 6-1 when capturing both the first and second sets, securing their fourth sweep of the year.
Duzenack Moves Up The Record Book…
With 14 assists on the night, Riley Duzenack moved up to sixth in the MSU freshman record book for assists in a season with 289. She is now 230 assists away from cracking the top five.
Singleton Serving Up A Bulldog Win…
A big reason for State’s Friday night sweep is the service game of senior Evie Grace Singleton. The Little Rock, Ark., native earned four aces, tying a season high. Singleton also tied a season high with 3 total blocks.
Sato With Another Double-Double…
Sophomore Blossom Sato recorded her second-straight double-double, tallying 24 assists and tying a season high with 12 digs. That is her third double-double of the year and eighth of her career.
Bulldogs Close Out SEC Opening Weekend At UK…
After Friday’s conference opener, the Maroon and White will turn its attention to Lexington to wrap up opening weekend. The Bulldogs and Wildcats will face off on Sunday, Sept. 25, with first serve set for 12:30 p.m. CT from Memorial Coliseum. The match will be broadcasted on SEC Network +.
Tennessee:
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Volunteers lost their SEC volleyball opener to Mississippi State 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-22) on Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols (9-4, 0-1 SEC) led Mississippi State (9-6, 1-0) most statistical categories, but the Bulldogs held off UT runs in all three sets to close out the match.
Senior Bri Holmes led the Vols with 14 kills, and freshman Tessa Grubbs added 13. Freshman Sedona Hansen had her sixth double-double of the season with 33 assists and 10 digs, and sophomore Erica Treiber had six kills and seven blocks.
Junior Claudia Coco came into the match late in each set to serve with the Vols facing set points. Tennessee saved 10 set points across all three sets, five on her serve.
Tennessee concludes the opening SEC weekend against Georgia (12-2, 0-1) on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena.
In the first set, Mississippi State broke a 20-20 tie with four unanswered points to go up 24-20. The Vols answered with four straight points to tie the set 24-24, but the Bulldogs won the next two points on back-to-back kills by Jelena Vujcin.
The Vols trailed by as many as six points in the second set but won four of five points at a stretch to tie the match 20-20 on a kill by Holmes. Mississippi State won the next two points to take the lead for good, eventually closing the set at 25-23 on a kill by Emily Hill.
In the third set, Tennessee fell behind by nine points at 19-10 but fought off four match points to close MSU’s lead to 24-22. Vujcin clinched the match for the Bulldogs on the next point.
The Vols led Mississippi State in hitting percentage (.278 to .204), digs (42 to 29) and blocks (9.0 to 8.0).
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