Bulldogs don’t let slow start hold them back

Mississippi Gulf Coast rebounded from a shaky start to a two-match day Friday to post a reverse sweep of the hosts in the Southwest Mississippi Invitational and finishing with two wins.

The Bulldogs spoiled Southwest Mississippi's first home match in the 21^st century, winning 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 16-14. They turned around quickly and beat Bevill State from Alabama 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22.

"I guess we weren't really ready to play," Gulf Coast coach Shayna Walsh said. "We switched the lineup around in the third set, and it worked. We were off and rolling after that. They did a great job after that."

Gulf Coast is 4-1 headed into Saturday's noon match against Jackson State Community College. It will be streamed at https://go.smccbears.tv/. Southwest is 0-7, and Bevill State is 6-2.

Sydney Tague (Fr., Olive Branch/DeSoto Central) had 20 assists and 13 digs, and Malorie Gaughf (Fr., Gulfport/Harrison Central) led the team with 10 kills while adding three blocks. Reese Sorrells (Fr., Picayune/Picayune) led the team with four blocks and had seven kills.

Mariah Hammond (Fr., Slidell La./Northshore) had 12 digs, and Lila Turner had 11 digs and 11 assists.

The Bulldogs took a ton of momentum into the second match and overwhelmed Bevill State the first two sets.

"We started at that match so great," Walsh said. "We never lost that lead in the first or second set. They did well."

A little stumble in the third quarter didn't stop Gulf Coast from closing the day's sweep.

Cambell Herrington (Fr., Brandon/Brandon) had 20 digs to lead her team, and Tague added 25 more assists. Alexa Shinabery (Fr., Marion Ark./Marion) had 12 kills to lead Gulf Coast, and Sorrells and Dana Cool (Fr., Dothan Ala./Northside Methodist Academy) had three blocks each.

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