STARKVILLE - Playing in front of 1,019 rowdy fans, the Mississippi State volleyball team dialed up victory over Ole Miss, 3-2, in the Magnolia State Showdown. The Bulldogs have won four of the last five matches against Ole Miss and have won three of the last four in the Newell-Grissom Building.

Ole Miss took the first set 25-14, but the Bulldogs stormed back with a 25-12 win in the second to knot the match at 1-1. The Rebels grabbed the third set, claiming it 25-21, but State won the fourth frame 25-20 to force a winner-take-all fifth set. Mississippi State won the match with a 15-13 victory in the final frame.

"That was a fun one," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said. "Super proud of the resilience and composure from our team. There were a lot of people that stepped up in a lot of big moments. Everybody was composed, and it was so fun to watch how confident they were today." Leading the way for State on Sunday was Sophie Agee. Agee led the Bulldogs for second a consecutive match with 16 kills while adding nine digs and four blocks. Amina Shackelford added 12 kills to the stat sheet with two blocks and two digs.

Karli Schmidt followed right behind Shackelford with 11 kills while adding four digs and three blocks.

Rebecca Walk and Caylee Sharkey each tallied seven kills on the afternoon. Walk led the team on the blocking front with six blocks, while Sharkey came away with two blocks of her own. Sanaa Williams earned four blocks on the afternoon and three kills behind a .600 hitting percentage.

Libero Lauren Myrick fueled the back row with 14 digs to go along with three assists, a kill and an ace. Myrick has now secured 10-plus digs in 17 appearances for the season. Defensive Specialist Mary Neal garnered eight digs, one assist and an ace.

Bulldog setters Erin Kline and Emily Oerther distributed a combined 43 assists on the afternoon. Individually, Oerther paced the Bulldogs with 27 assists and added seven digs, while Kline collected 16 assists and two aces.

Mississippi State heads to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on Friday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. State will then hit the road again to Athens to take on Georgia on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. CT.