FRIDAY: OLE MISS 3, TENNESSEE 1 (SID)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Ole Miss volleyball team continued its strong offensive play of late and paired that with another impressive defensive performance to notch its second straight road victory. Led by four double-digit kill performances and another double-double from freshman setter Aubrey Edie, the Rebels defeated Tennessee 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-18) Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of the Lady Vols.
The Rebels’ victory gave Ole Miss its first season sweep of Tennessee since 2007. Ole Miss topped Tennessee 3-1 on Oct. 18 in Oxford.
“Being on this long road stretch, I was really pleased with how the team responded tonight,” Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said. “We’ve talked all season about clicking on all cylinders, and we’re starting to do that. We’re hitting well and we’re digging well.”
Edie’s double-double was her team-high sixth of the season, and her second in as many matches. The Fayetteville, Ark., native finished the match with 47 assists, one shy of her season high, and 10 digs. Freshman right side hitter Melanie Crow led Ole Miss offensively with a career-high 16 kills and five block assists. Sophomore middle blocker Nakeyta Clair, who had a career-high 19 kills Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory at Mississippi State, hammered down 15 kills Friday at Tennessee. Fellow sophomore middle blocker Ty Laporte had 11 kills, two solo blocks and five block assists, while senior outside hitter Kara Morgan had 10 kills on a season-best .526 clip, and eight digs.
Defensively, Ole Miss held Tennessee to a .142 attacking percentage, had 11.0 total blocks and out-dug the Lady Vols 50-40. Junior libero Cara Fisher, who had a career-high 17 digs Wednesday at Mississippi State, tallied a team-high 11 digs Friday against the Lady Vols.
SUNDAY: TEXAS A&M 3, OLE MISS 1
Playing its fifth match in 10 days, Ole Miss committed 15 total errors and scored just 10 points in the first set that it dropped 25-10 to Texas A&M (13-10, 5-7 SEC). Ole Miss (13-13, 3-10) would eventually fall to the Aggies 3-1.
Fifty-one of Texas A&M’s 97 points in the four-set match came off of Ole Miss errors. Seven different Rebels had a service error, and Ole Miss committed 30 attack errors, as the offense struggled to get going.
“It’s frustrating that we came out and our offensive production slipped back a little bit,” head coach Joe Getzin said. “It’s all above the shoulders right now. We have to get better at that.”
For the match, Ole Miss posted a hitting percentage of .097. They entered the match hitting .225, and Texas A&M was allowing the highest opponent hitting percentage in the SEC at .222. Texas A&M posted more blocks and digs per set than it averages on the season.
“A&M does a very good job at blocking and giving you limited court to hit in, and their libero made some unbelievable digs,” Getzin said.
The Aggie libero, Heather Reynolds, had a team-high 13 digs, and five other Aggies had five or more digs.
In the third set, the only one that Ole Miss won, the Rebels posted a hitting percentage of .294. Nakeyta Clair turned in a solid offensive game despite the team’s struggles. She had 13 kills and just four errors on 27 attacks to lead Ole Miss. Clair has posted 59 kills to just 15 attack errors over the last four matches.
Defensively, Ole Miss got excellent digging performances from three players. Kara Morgan had 13, while Rachel McLamore tied her season-high with 12, and Cara Fisher had her second-best total with 15.
Ole Miss will host two home games this coming weekend as Georgia and Kentucky come to Oxford.
Ole Miss Sports Information contributed to this report.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss volleyball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
