It’s been a rough stretch for Georgia volleyball recently.

Losers of four consecutive matches – including the last two at home – the Bulldogs (11-9, 2-7 SEC) are looking to get back on the winning track against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-16, 1-9 SEC) tonight at the Ramsey Student Center.

Georgia will be more than happy to welcome Mississippi State to town after defeating the Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss., in September by a score of 3-1.

After losing to the top four teams in the eastern division – including two top-ten teams in Florida and Kentucky – the Bulldogs are looking forward to facing a team they have already beaten this season as well as being able to stay at home for consecutive weekends.

“It’ll be a good transition from a top-ten team in Florida to come out with Mississippi State,” sophomore libero Carla Tietz said. “It’s also nice being home two weekends in a row. I think it’s a good break from traveling so that’ll be to our benefit as well.”

Even with Mississippi State appearing to be an easy win for the Bulldogs, head coach Joel McCartney doesn’t want his team to worry so much about the name on the opponent’s jersey.

“The motivation that I’ve given to the team is not looking at the opponent that we’re playing,” McCartney said. “Not that we’re not going to scout them and have a game strategy prepared with each team we’re playing but what I don’t want to do is get caught up in looking at who we feel we can beat versus who we feel like we can’t beat.”

In regards to what factors have contributed to the four-match skid, McCartney has a clear idea of what has prevented his team from winning more matches and has confidence that the morale around the locker room remains high.

“The spirits aren’t down in the day-to-day operations of our program . but we need to continue to make a more competitive environment in our training,” McCartney said. “Through this losing streak, Simone May was out with a severely sprained ankle and that put us down to nine [players] and now Simone is back and healthy . but Michele Simmons went down today with a sprained ankle, she’s on crutches right now so that keeps us at nine probably for the weekend.”

“We’ll keep up with the spirited training sessions that we’re having every day and try to pick up some more wins here as the season progresses into the second half,” McCartney said.

The action against Mississippi State tips off tonight at 7 in the Ramsey Student Center.