THE NEWELL-GRISSOM BUILDING The Newell-Grissom Building, with a colorful and varied history as a campus landmark that spans seven decades, is in its 23rd year as the home for Mississippi State’s Volleyball Bulldogs in 2019. The spacious facility has served as the Bulldogs’ on-campus volleyball home since 1997. Mississippi State played Georgia (October 3, 1997) in the first volleyball match at the Newell-Grissom Building. Now, 23 years later, second-year head coach Julie Darty Dennis will lead the Bulldogs in a total of 15 home matches, which also includes hosting the StarkVegas Classic to start the season and the Hail State Invitational to conclude the non-conference slate. Including nearly 600 maroon chair back seats installed in the arena’s east stands prior to the start of the 2006 campaign, the volleyball-exclusive facility, featuring 12,000 square feet of hardwood flooring, has arena seating for more than 2,000. 13 of the 20 most-attended volleyball events at the NewellGrissom Building have occurred in the last five years. MSU eclipsed the 1,000-mark in attendance twice in 2011, including a facility-record 3,021 that packed the arena August 26 for a season-opening match against Southern Illinois. MSU and Florida were the only SEC teams to eclipse the 3,000-attendance mark in a regular season match in 2011. The Bulldogs also brought in a crowd of 4,525 in a 3-0 victory against No. 25 Kentucky in an Oct. 14 matchup at Humphrey Coliseum, setting the state of Mississippi’s attendance record for a volleyball match. In 2013, the Bulldogs posted four of the top 10 attendance figures. MSU had the second-highest attendance in program history as well in 2013, when 1,633 packed State’s home venue in an ESPNU broadcast against in-state rival Ole Miss. Last season, MSU posted three attendance showings in The Griss’ top 15.
YEAR-BY-YEAR Year W-L Pct. 1997 5-4 .555 1998 5-5 .500 1999 3-6 .333 2000 5-5 .500 2001 4-7 .364 2002 1-7 .125 2003 2-9 .182 2004 4-6 .400 2005 7-5 .583 2006 10-4 .714 2007 7-6 .538 2008 3-10 .231 2009 7-10 .412 2010 6-8 .429 2011 5-8 .385 2012 2-11 .154 2013 8-9 .471 2014 5-12 .294 2015 10-6 .625 2016 11-6 .647 2017 5-12 .294 2018 2-11 .154 2019 7-8 .467 23 Seasons 124-175 .415
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Located adjacent to State’s football stadium, Davis Wade Stadium, the Newell-Grissom Building has undergone a myriad of significant transformations since its arrival on the MSU scene in the early 1950s. Since 2004, the facility has seen the addition of an air conditioning system, chair back seating and a new sound system. The locker rooms and team areas have undergone renovations, a concession facility has been added to service the needs of a growing fan base, and a new sound system and scoreboard have been installed to enhance the game experience. In 2012, The Griss saw the installation of a new lighting system that improves the illumination of volleyball-exclusive markings on a resurfaced court and colorful decorative interior and exterior banners that have been installed to give the facility an added Mississippi State flavor. Prior to the 2016 season, The Griss received a number of upgrades, including one of the few gray courts, as the Newell-Grissom floor was stripped and resurfaced. To kick off the Darty Dennis era, significant renovations were done to Newell-Grissom with the addition of a high-definition Daktronics video board, as well as DVSport replay capabilities. Other upgrades included new graphics inside the facility, which brings a whole new feeling to the arena: new window banners on all windows, “StarkVegas” wall wraps in the main lobby, both ends of the court and locker room hallways. The hospitality room is now called the FAMILY ROOM, which includes Hail State dimensional lettering and door wraps that will be used for pregame meals and other activities for the players. There has been an addition of an officials’ locker room with ample room for
officials. Heading into her second season, Darty Dennis also added more improvements to Newell-Grissom with the additions of a video room, team lounge, academic center and fueling station. As its early nickname, “the cow barn,” indicates that the Newell-Grissom Building was designed primarily as a facility for rodeos, livestock shows and equestrian competitions. It eventually developed into the campus and regional center for concerts and other entertainment events, and the building’s size and central location on campus also made it a natural for graduation ceremonies, class registration operations and other university functions. In 1978, the arena was formally named in honor of two longtime leaders in MSU’s animal science department, Paul F. Newell (1910) and E.E. Grissom (1932). The structure went largely unused in the 1980s and early 1990s, and it gradually fell into disrepair. Faced with an expensive “tear-it-down-or-fix-it-up” proposition, the university, partnered with the MSU Department of Athletics, embarked in early 1995 on a million-dollar renovation project. That initial project included reroofing, the installation of a hardwood floor and a lighting system, the construction of locker rooms and team meeting areas, and the addition of public restroom facilities. The renovated Newell-Grissom Building initially served as an auxiliary practice site for volleyball and both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Mississippi State in 1996 while Humphrey Coliseum served as the primary on-campus competition site for all three teams. The Newell-Grissom Building is the third on-campus home in 44 full seasons of intercollegiate volleyball at Mississippi State University. MSU’s first volleyball teams competed in McCarthy Gymnasium prior to moving to Humphrey Coliseum in the 1970s.
THE GRISS QUICK FACTS
MSU Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124-175 (.415 - 23 seasons) Most Wins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 (2016) First Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Georgia 3, MSU 0 (10/3/97) First Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MSU 3, ULM 0 (10/7/97) First SEC WIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MSU 3, LSU 2 (10/17/97) First TV Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MSU 3, Ole Miss 1 (11/15/98) Longest Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:34 - MSU 3, AU 2 (10/31/99)
3,024 1,633 1,409 1,023 1,018 1,009 1,003 932 903 903 883 881 881 843 835 821 813 793 763 742
TOP 20 CROWDS
+ Southern Illinois (8/26/11) Ole Miss (11/6/13) Kansas (8/26/16) Ole Miss (9/27/17) Ark.-Pine Bluff/ULM (8/28/15) Florida (9/16/11) Kentucky (11/15/13) Montana/TAMU-CC (8/28/10) Tulane (9/01/17) South Florida (9/01/17) Mississippi Valley State (8/24/18) Southern Utah (8/29/15) UALR/Austin Peay (8/27/10) MVSU/SIU-E (9/19/14) Louisiana Monroe (8/24/18) Nicholls St./NW St. (9/13/14) Ole Miss (10/22/10) Missouri (10/9/15) Georgia State (8/25/18) Memphis (9/12/14)
