STARKVILLE – Mississippi State’s volleyball team won in straight sets over Louisiana (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) in an exhibition match on Saturday at the Newell-Grissom Building.

State had two players register 10-plus kills, including Gabby Waden who also collected a double-double on the afternoon.

“The energy, the atmosphere, and the fans came out which was great for our team to play in front of fans to get some jitters out,” head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. “I think we started off a little slow. We had some beginning of the year stuff we had to work through. I was really excited by their response and how resilient they were.”

Waden led all MSU attackers with 12 kills and ripped a .310 hitting clip while also collecting 11 digs. Lauren Myrick followed suit with 10 kills, eight digs and a sparkling 1.000 reception percentage.

Freshman Sophie Agee got her first start as a Bulldog and rattled off seven kills and collected a lone block on the afternoon.

After a back and forth first set with 10 ties and three lead changes, the Bulldogs took the first set by an edge of 25-23.

“This game was a great opportunity to see what we still have to work on,” said Dennis “We have to clean up our first contacts a little bit. We have to make some adjustments. Overall, it was a good day to focus on our side of the net and our system. We were pretty clean. We had 13 errors out of 100 and that’s 13 percent. We want to stay under 14 percent, so that’s a pretty good attacking day for the Dawgs. We have to figure out some lineup stuff and personnel. We have a week to prepare. We are excited about where we are and where we are going. I’m pretty happy about today.”

MSU was in full force for the second set by keeping the lead for the entire set before the Bulldogs took the second set by a score of 25-20.

Mississippi State put the finishing touches on its third set with a steady effort. Up 20-18, the Bulldogs pulled away with kills from Myrick to close out the win, 25-19.

“The fans are unreal, and their energy is unmatched, Dennis said. “We feel them every second and every minute of the match. We cannot thank them enough for what they provide for us. The Griss is the place to be. In the Griss, we have a home-court advantage, and it is because of our family.”

Mississippi State will travel to South Bend, Indiana, for a matchup against Milwaukee and Notre Dame. Friday’s season opener with Milwaukee gets underway at 3:30 p.m. CT, while Saturday’s matchup at Notre Dame will begin at 4 p.m. CT.

For more information on the Bulldog volleyball program, visit HailState.com or search for “HailStateVB” on Twitter, Instagramand Facebook.