Aug. 25, 2006

Box Score

Box Score
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LAFAYETTE, La. -- - Southern Miss dropped its season opener to instate-rival Mississippi State in three games, 3-0 (30-17, 30-14, 30-18) in the first match of the Capital One Classic on Friday. Southern Miss falls to 0-1, while Mississippi State improves to 1-0.

Mari Ruddick led the Golden Eagles with six kills followed by Ashley Petrinec with five kills. Maia Ivanova led the team with 12 digs. Cristina Jucan recorded a match-high 24 kills for the Bulldogs and Jamie Joyner added 11 kills. Orshi Kriegel added 13 digs.

"This was a tough match to open with," Head Coach Ricci Luyties said. "Mississippi State basically has the same team, but they have added a couple of players and they played great."

Mississippi State opened game one quickly establishing a 5-1 lead. Southern Miss fought back to within four points, 18-14, before State used a 12-3 run to close out the game. The Bulldogs won 30-17, committing only four attack errors.

"Overall, I thought we played well," Luyties said. "We just couldn't handle the constant pressure by State. They served tough and kept attacking. They had an answer for everything we did."

In game two, the Golden Eagles took a 4-1 lead before the Bulldogs countered with an 8-2 run to take the lead for good, winning 30-14. Southern Miss recorded only five points on 33 attack attempts and finished with a -.091 attack percentage.

Both teams battled early in game three with neither team leading by more than three points. With the game tied at 7-7, Mississippi State used an 8-3 to take a 15-10 lead. Southern Miss answered with a 5-2 run, cutting the lead to two, 17-15, before State reeled off nine straight points. The Bulldogs won game three, 30-18.

"We have to continue to work hard in practice to improve," Luyties said.

Southern Miss plays host Louisiana-Lafayette at 2 p.m., and plays Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m., in the round robin tournament.