JACKSON - For Senior Kasey Laird, it didn't even feel like a gameday as she led her team to a 3-1 victory over the Hendrix Warriors.

"This morning when I woke up, it didn't feel like gameday so I guess I came in with extra focus and extra momentum," said the senior outside hitter from New Orleans. "I guess it just clicked tonight, I'm not even sure."

What was sure was that Laird had a monster night with 18 kills, 17 digs, and nine blocks as the Majors improved to 6-2 in the Southern Athletic Association with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-27, 25-15 win over the Warriors.

"Words don't even describe what (Kasey) does for our team," said Head Coach Jaime Fisher. "She is our consistency on offense and defense and she's the one we go to when things our tight, she's been huge this season."

The two teams were even throughout the first set as each point went back and forth. The two teams were even at 12 before the Majors turned it on, outscoring the Warriors 13-7 to pull away and take set one, 25-19. Laird was huge with seven kills and no errors for a .778 hitting percentage, while senior Sarah Zito had three kills on three attacks.

The Majors (12-4, 6-2 SAA) were all over set two from the start, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and taking it to the Warriors, leading by as many as 12 at one point. Hendrix would close the gap, but it would not be enough as the Majors took the second set, 25-16.

Hendrix (8-12, 3-5 SAA) fired back in set three with some intensity as they powered their way to a 17-9 lead. However, the Majors began to crawl back into match thanks to great play from Laird and senior Raven Scott. The Majors surged to seven straight points in the set to tie the game at 18.

However, despite two match points to close the match, Hendrix prevailed and stayed alive with a 27-25 win. 

"Coming out of the third game, we had the positive of coming back from a huge deficit, but didn't make good decisions in the end," said Fisher. "I told them they needed to respond and come out with the confidence they had the first and second game and play like the team they are."

"We were stressing to protect our house and we knew we did not was to go to a fifth set," said Laird. "We knew we needed extra focus and extra effort in the last game to get it done."

The Majors did just that as they crushed the Warriors 25-15 thanks to three kills in the game by Laird to go along with four kills. Scott and freshman Alex Morphew added two kills to set the Warriors fate.

Of the 18 total kills, Laird only took 33 attempts and made two errors for a phenomenal .485 hitting percentage. Scott added eight kills on the evening to go along with 17 assists and 13 digs. Zito was fantasic as well with six kills and six blocks. Two other Majors had double digit kills in McKey with 18 and sophomore Taylor Zeigler with 12 to go along with a team leading 22 assists and an impressive four kills in her setting role.

The Majors are now over the halfway point in conference play and look to turn it on down the home stretch with key matchups approaching as they see everyone a second time.

"We have to take it game by game," said Fisher. "With the second go around, it's much tougher to beat teams twice."

Laird knows for this team to continue to be successful, it starts away from gameday.

"It's all going to down to our work ethic at practice," adds Laird. "What we do in practice will corrolate to games, we have to stay focused."

The Majors return to action tomorrow afternoon as they welcome in the Rhodes Lynx to The Hangar Dome. First serve is set for 1 p.m.

NOTE: Tomorrow's Game featuring Millsaps and Rhodes Volleyball will not have live coverage due to the football game between Millsaps and Huntingdon that also takes place at 1 p.m. We will provide any score updates that are received which can be sent to hilljc@millsaps.edu. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.