STARKVILLE — For the first time in program history, the Mississippi State volleyball team defeated a ranked opponent.
It accomplished that feat Friday night in front of the largest crowd to see a match at the school.
As the opening act to MSU’s Maroon Madness celebration for the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the volleyball team swept the No. 25 University of Kentucky 3-0. Set scores were 25-23, 25-18, 25-19.
The Bulldogs (10-8, 5-4) now have a pair of victories to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee. On Sept. 10, MSU beat Baylor 3-1 in a tournament in Beaumont, Texas.
“The one thing that committee is going to look at is quality wins, and we’ve already got a few now with a chance to get more,” MSU coach Jenny Hazelwood said. “The NCAA tournament is a huge possibility for this team.”
Seniors Caitlin Rance and Faith Steinwendell led MSU in the first volleyball match at Humphrey Coliseum. With the 14 kills Friday, Rance is 10 away from 1,000 for her career. The outside hitter, who is second in the Southeastern Conference in kills, paced the offense early.
“This win just makes me so excited for the matches we have coming up because know we know we can do it,” Rance said. “We thought we could do something like this for a while, and now actually proved it.”
Steinwendell, who also was a disruptive defensive force, had 11 kills and nine digs.
An announced crowd of 4,535 saw MSU limit Kentucky’s combination of Becky Pevan and Whitney Billings to 11 kills. The duo had 31 combined kills Wednesday in a five-set victory against No. 18 Tennessee.
The crowd at Humphrey Coliseum was 1,511 more than the previous biggest crowd MSU had for a volleyball match, and the largest attendance for a volleyball match in the state of Mississippi.
“The girls tonight felt like we’re here with 4,000 of our closest friends and let’s have some fun,” Hazelwood said. “On the flip side, Kentucky was never comfortable, and that’s what a home-court advantage can do for a program like ours against a really good team.”
No. 25 Kentucky (17-4, 8-2) came to Starkville tied for first in the SEC. MSU will get a chance to knock off the new top team in the league — Tennessee (15-3, 8-1) — when it visits the Newell-Grissom Building at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
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