MURFREESBORO, TENN. – Mississippi State made quick work of the Red Foxes on Sunday afternoon, sweeping Marist in their final match at the Blue Raider Bash.
The Bulldogs, hailing from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), dominated the tournament, beating each opponent in straight sets. Their offense looked unstoppable all weekend, and especially against the Red Foxes.
As a team, Mississippi State swung for a .395 hitting percentage. They converted over half of their attack attempts, landing 43 kills on Marist’s side of the floor. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs completely controlled the Red Foxes, who posted a measly .053 hitting percentage.
Sophomore middle blocker Sarah Bumstead played a very impressive and efficient match against a strong out-of-conference opponent. Bumstead had two blocks and scored a kill on half of her 14 swings and only committed two errors, ending her weekend with a .357 hitting percentage, her highest on the season.
Freshman outside hitter Lindsey Mangelson tormented the Red Foxes in the first set. The freshman’s first three kills all came from different spots on the floor: she started by hammering one from the middle out of serve receive, then got a kill on a missile of a swing from the back row. Rotated back into the outside hitter position in the front row, Mangelson quickly added five kills before going back to serve.
The Bulldogs ran away with the set, winning 25-16. Marist failed to stop Mississippi State’s offense, which scored 17 kills on just 31 swings, but stayed close thanks to aggressive swinging by Bumstead and freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck. In the set, Bumstead led Marist with four kills on five swings, while Reck got a kill on three of her first four attack attempts.
Mississippi State committed five errors early in the second, momentarily preventing them from stretching out to a healthy lead. The Bulldogs only led by two, 11-9, but took control from there. Junior outside hitter Mele Corral-Blagojevich peppered Marist’s back row with four kills, but the Bulldogs’ well-balanced attack gave Marist the most trouble.
Four Bulldogs tallied three or more kills in the set, coming from different areas across the net and in the back row. With seemingly all of Mississippi State’s players being a threat to kill the ball at any moment, the Marist blockers had their work cut out for them, as they scrambled to try and get solid block touches.
It got out of hand early in the match’s final frame. In the blink of an eye, Marist head coach Sean Byron had called both of his timeouts as his team trailed 8-1. The set did not get much closer than that, as Mississippi State won 25-12.
Byron used the match as an opportunity to empty his bench a little bit; sophomore Nikki Patton got the nod at libero in the third set, sophomore middle blocker Savannah Smith got action in the second and freshman outside hitter Ava Lanzetta played right side in the back half of the second set, and all of the third.
“I wanted to give people some opportunities to compete and work things out in our system,” said Byron. “I think it was a good match for us; obviously, I would have liked the score to be closer, but we can’t simulate that physicality in our practice.”
Lanzetta, getting her first chance to hit front row in game action, recorded three kills against a Mississippi State block that gave the Red Foxes fits all afternoon. After spending most of the season hitting from the outside, Byron has been giving the left-hander some more chances to play on the right side, a more natural spot for Lanzetta to hit.
“She’s a good volleyball player,” Byron said. “She’s really developing and doing what we ask.”
Though the resounding loss leaves a bad taste in the Red Foxes’ mouths, their weekend at the Blue Raider Bash was by no means a failure. Marist challenged itself with tough opponents such as Middle Tennessee State and Mississippi State, but took care of business against UT Martin, a team at a similar level to what they can expect to see in the MAAC Conference.
Marist has a shorter road trip next weekend to the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic in Queens. They start against the St. John’s, the host team, on Friday at 12 p.m.
Edited by Gene Barbieri
Photo and graphic by Gene Barbieri
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