Cats Push Mississippi State to Four Sets

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Abilene Christian took the first set but Mississippi State grabbed a 3-1 win over the Wildcats on Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs won 21-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-14.
 
ACU trailed 20-19 in the first set but scored four consecutive points, including kills by Breanna Box and Bryley Steinhilber and a block by Box and Chloe Karn for a 23-20 lead.
 
Sara Carrizales later ended the set with a kill.
 
The Cats had MSU on the ropes in the second set before the Bulldogs bounced back for four consecutive points to get the set win.
 
Tonight's match was a challenging one," said ACU Head Coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup. "We did a good job to stay on top of our serving to keep them out of system and we got a lot of good defensive touches. But ultimately, we couldn't put the ball away to finish the point. I think we rallied really hard and we have a lot of things to be proud of. We're excited to begin our run in the WAC and excited to compete Thursday at home. We hope to get a good crowd there just like at the Texas Tech match and we're looking forward to competing."
 
Steinhilber led the team with 11 kills and Braden Bossier added eight. Madeline Guffy had 29 assists.
 
Box had five blocks and Karn added three.
 
Steinhilber had 14 digs, followed by Carrizales with 12. Ashli Edmiston had 11 while Guffy and Abby Christian had 10 each.
 
The Wildcats host Seattle in the Western Athletic Conference opener at 6 p.m. on Thursday.