Volleyball Finds Growth Despite Falling Twice

Saturday, September 7

Hattiesburg, MS

12:30 P.M.

Southern Miss

0-4

New Orleans

Southern Miss

Volleyball Finds Growth Despite Falling Twice

9/7/2019 10:51:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score vs. New Orleans Box Score vs. Mississippi State

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After a tough loss to New Orleans (3-3, 0-0 Southland) in the morning session of the 12^th-annual Southern Miss Volleyball Classic, senior Ashley Berry delivered an impressive showing in a three-set loss to in-state rival Mississippi State (6-0, 0-0 SEC).

Berry unleashed 23 kills over the two matches, highlighted by a .429 hitting clip against Mississippi State. In just her third match at Reed Green Coliseum, freshman Kess Krutsinger delivered eight kills on 17 attempts.

Defensively, Madison Lawler chipped in with 25 digs on the day. Chloe Klusman and Addie Ashton combined for five blocks against the Bulldogs and Privateers.

Match 1 vs. New Orleans (20-25, 18-25, 19-25)
Senior Ashley Berry, who surpassed 350 kills in her Southern Miss career in the loss to Arkansas State last night, posted a team-high 11 kills. After opening an early lead, the Golden Eagles fell behind when New Orleans hit a 9-2 run in the first set.

Southern Miss was unable to climb back in the first set, losing 15-20. Junior Piper Matsumoto dished out 23 assists and 12 digs, giving the transfer a double-double. The Privateers took the second and third set by a 25-18 and 25-19 score, respectively. Redshirt junior Chloe Klusman tallied five kills on a .357 hitting clip.

Match 2 vs. Mississippi State (17-25, 19-25, 23-25)
The Golden Eagles fell behind early in the opening set and could never recover, dropping the first set by a 25-17 score. However, the final two frames – despite Mississippi State taking both – showcased high-level volleyball for the 448 fans in attendance.

After Mississippi State jumped to an early lead in the second set, Southern Miss was able to pull within three thanks to a big kill by Berry. The Bulldogs responded with a run that secured the set. Needing a win to keep the match alive, Southern Miss looked to be on track to do just that. Quick kills by Krutsinger and Berry gave the Golden Eagles an early lead, but the Bulldogs responded each time.

The in-state rivals found themselves tied 12 different times in the third set, which also included a 17-13 lead by the Golden Eagles. Despite that being the largest lead of the game for Southern Miss, Mississippi State found a way to win the final frame.

Thoughts from Stephanie Radecki
"We're really young with a lot of new players – 17 young players that haven't played a whole lot of volleyball together. Our returners have never been viewed as big go-to players. They've stepped into these huge shoes that need to be filled. One of the biggest goals is to get better every day and we got better today.

"We played great volleyball and had a lot of people step up in crucial situations. Liana Guillemaud did a great job coming off the bench and I thought our middle attack was really strong. It's a quick turnaround this week. We won't have as much practice time to get ready, so we're going to have to focus in pretty fast. I think if we get better every day it's going to take us to a nice place."

Next up
The Golden Eagles will head to Louisiana for a midweek contest in Lafayette, La. First serve against the Ragin' Cajuns is slated for 6:30 p.m.

For all of the latest Southern Miss volleyball news, fans can follow the official Southern Miss volleyball Twitter account (@SouthernMissVB), Instagram account (@southernmissvb) and Facebook account (Southern Miss Volleyball).