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Mississippi State
Lady Rebels Suffer Tough Loss To Mississippi State 3-0
10/13/2004 | Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2004
Box Score
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Ole Miss (8-10, 1-6 SEC) suffered a tough setback on the quest for an appearance in the Southeastern Conference tournament on Wednesday, falling to Mississippi State (10-9, 3-4 SEC) in a key match-up in Starkville 3-0 (27-30, 16-30, 26-30).
The loss marked the first to Mississippi State by an Ole Miss team in three years and ended a five match win streak over the Bulldogs. The Lady Rebels had not lost to Mississippi State since a 3-1 loss in 2001 in Starkville.
Katie Kramer led the Lady Rebels with 10 kills on the night, her first double-digit performance of her career for Ole Miss. Elena Garcia led the defensive effort, coming up with 13 digs on the night from her outside hitter position. Tricia Eble hit .420 for the night, recording six kills on 14 attacks with no errors.
Ole Miss took the first point of the match, but the Bulldogs fought back to take a 3-1 lead on the Lady Rebels. Ole Miss cut the lead to one at 7-6, but Mississippi State again pushed the lead back up on the visiting Rebels. The Bulldogs held to a three point edge from there, answering every Lady Rebel run, until Ole Miss took a timeout down 15-11.
Mississippi State scored first out of the break, extending the lead to six points at 18-12, holding that advantage until Ole Miss made a run to cut the lead to 24-21. The Bulldogs again rallied and pushed ahead of the Lady Rebels, forcing Getzin to call a timeout with his team down 26-22.
Tricia Eble laid down a solid kill on the first play out of the break, sparking a quick Lady Rebel run that cut the lead to 28-26 and pushed Mississippi State into a timeout. But it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs took the first game 30-27.
Mississippi State took the first point of game two on an attack that sailed long, but gave the point right back to Ole Miss with a service error. The Bulldogs pushed out to a 4-1 lead from there, but Ole Miss answered right back to pull within one at 6-5. But Ole Miss was forced into a timeout when Mississippi State stormed ahead 10-5 from there.
The Lady Rebels couldn't get back on track, as Mississippi State gained steam in its attack, pushing the lead out to 15-6. Ole Miss cut into the lead with a run, trimming the score to 16-11, but again Mississippi State surged ahead and forced the Lady Rebels into timeout down 20-13.
Ole Miss never got back into the game, as the Bulldogs took the second game 30-16.
Mississippi State grabbed the first point of the third game, when Nikki Hill got to a dig, but was called too far away from the court on the play. The two squads attacked each other with ferocity as Mississippi State sought to close out the match and Ole Miss fought to stay alive. The Lady Rebels got the lead 4-3 and held the advantage until two straight overpasses that the Bulldogs slammed back home gave Mississippi State the lead 7-6.
Ole Miss took the lead back when Mississippi State was called for an overlap, putting the Lady Rebels back up 10-9. The Bulldogs called timeout after a second overlap call gave Ole Miss a 12-9 edge. The officials then took the point away from Ole Miss and decided to replay the point after the overlap ruling.
The Bulldogs took the point on the replay, cutting the lead to one and then tying the game at 12 on a ball that clipped the back line on a free ball. Mississippi State took the lead at 14-13 after a long rally that saw a hard attack sail off the hands of a Lady Rebel defender, then extended the lead to 15-13 on a similar play.
The Lady Rebels took the lead back with two straight scores, but Mississippi State responded and claimed the lead again with a run of its own. Ole Miss would never be able to overtake the Bulldogs again, as Mississippi State claimed the match with a 30-26 win in game three.
Ole Miss will continue Southeastern Conference play on the road this weekend, taking on the Kentucky Wildcats in Memorial Coliseum at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
