Bulldogs get W in 1st home match

PERKINSTON — Maybe it was the first home game in program history, or maybe just playing in front of a raucous crowd, but Mississippi Gulf Coast didn't play its best volleyball Monday night.

The Bulldogs still left Dantzler Arena as winners, downing Coastal Alabama-South 3-1 for the second time in three days. Gulf Coast won 25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 25-19.

"That was rough. I'm not even gonna lie," coach Shayna Walsh said. "That was hard to watch. Everything we did right last time we played them, we did wrong this time, which is frustrating."

The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the young season by surviving some poor service receiving. Sydney Tague (Fr., Olive Branch/DeSoto Central) helped turn the tide in the first set, baffling the Coyotes (0-2) with a late run of serves. After Malorie Gaughf (Fr., Gulfport/Harrison Central) roofed a block to get Gulf Coast within 19-18, Tague served up a pair of aces before Cadie Jo Byrd (Fr., New Albany/Ingomar), who finished with 12 digs and six kills, hit a bomb for a 21-19 lead. Tague went on two to win the next point, then banged an ace off the tape to take command.

"Sydney did well behind the surface line," Walsh said. "Campbell (Herrington) did well there, too."

Tague had six aces and 15 assists. Herrington had 11 digs, and Lila Turner had 11 assists. Reese Sorrells (Fr., Picayune/Picayune) led Gulf Coast with 11 kills.

Gaughf, who had six kills, dominated in the middle down the stretch in the second set, with Mariah Hammond, who also had six kills, providing the outside punch. She punctuated set point with a big attack for a 2-0 lead.

The Bulldogs' service reception got really wonky in the third set, and Coastal Alabama made them pay.

"We were out of system way too much," Walsh said. "When we're in system, we can get the job done, but we've just got to get that first contact down."

Byrd was the difference-maker in the final set, winning an array of jousts, blocks, dinks and big hits.

"We struggled on the service receive," Walsh said. "We made too many errors. We don't ever make that in many errors. I don't know what that was about, but we're just going to chalk it down to they were nervous, there were a lot of people here, and it was loud. But you know, we expect to play a lot better on Wednesday as we should against Jones."

Gulf Coast travels to Ellisville on Wednesday to open conference play. First serve will be at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed at https://jcbobcats.com/watch. 

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