The No. 2 Texas Longhorns (11-1) travel to face another unranked opponent in Starkville for a match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-1) for SEC play for “Christmas at The Griss.”
Some Bulldogs with loud barks are Lindsey Mangelson leading the offense with 188 kills, 19 service aces while defensively she helps with 103 digs and 23 blocks. The true freshman outside hitter currently leads the freshman class nationally in two different stats and she is the top freshman in three different stats in the SEC,
where she leads the conference in points per set.
Junior outside hitter’s Mele Corral-Blagojevich aids the offense with 136 kills alongside Bernardita Aguilar helping the offense with 116 kills, six service aces while adding 77 digs and 24 blocks at the net. Sophomore setter Cayley Hanson leads the Bulldogs with 517 assists and 19 service aces with 84 digs with 32 blocks. Hanson is sixth nationally and second in the SEC in assists per set.
Mississippi State is 6-0 at home this season, adding a big road win over then-No. 19 Florida last month, only the second win in Gainesville for the Bulldogs. Two days later, however, Mississippi State was swept by Auburn on the Plains.
Texas is one of two undefeated teams left in the country, along with No. 1 Nebraska. The Longhorns lead the conference in assists per set (13.87) and kills per set (14.92) and lead the nation in kills per set. True freshman outside hitter Cari Spears leads the team in kills at 144 while senior libero Emma Halter leads the team in digs at 135 over 38 sets played. Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford ranks fifth in the league with 4.29 kills per set with six double doubles in 10 games while junior setter Ella Swindle is sixth with 9.29 assists per set. While both true freshman middle blocker Taylor Harvey and sophomore middle blocker Ayden Ames rank in the top 10 with their attacking percents, Harvey sits fourth at .409 with Ames at seventh with .370.
The Longhorns look to extend their winning streak with the first serve at 2 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
