In front of more than 600 fans, the Ole Miss Volleyball team made history Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center. The Rebels rallied to defeat Jacksonville State 3-1 for a program-best 10-0 start to the season.
“I’ve had people ask me how I felt about getting 10 wins, and I said ‘I’ll let you know at the end of the season, because we’re not done yet,’” head coach Steven McRoberts said. “I am proud of the team for winning our first 10, but we know we have a lot of things to work on to get better. I hope our focus is not on a streak, but on our next match. We want our focus to be on getting better every day. We talked about how if everyone stays in the system and people are bought in, things like this happen.”
For the first time all year, the Rebels trailed after set one. The Rebels had four set points in the opening frame, but the Gamecocks won in overtime, 28-26 to take the early momentum.
Freshman Lexi Thompson had a career night and provided the spark the Rebels needed. She stepped up in the second set, posting seven of a career-high 18 kills to lead the team to a 25-23 win. After the break, Ole Miss came out and won the third set 25-21 behind more solid play from Thompson, who added six kills.
“Lexi had a tremendous night for us,” McRoberts said. “She had a really good weekend. Her play really helped us build some momentum throughout the night with her double-double. She was the go to hitter for us in crunch situations, and as a freshman stepped up and did a great job.”
Wanting to avoid a fifth set for the second weekend in a row, the Rebels jumped on the Gamecocks early in the fourth and earned their largest lead of the night at 20-11. Jacksonville State never threatened, as the Rebels closed out the Gamecocks 25-17.
Thompson added a career-best 17 digs to go along with her 16 kills as well as two service aces and two blocks. She hit a career-high .484 on the night.
“We were all looking at each other wondering who would step up and talk,” Thompson said. “And finally Cara Fisher just said, ‘We need to make history. This is it. This is all we have. Go for it. Don’t worry about what happened. We’re playing best 2-out-of-3.’”
Earlier Friday in the annual Kids Day Game, Ole Miss dominated Mercer 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-18). Nakeyta Clair led the Rebels against the Bears, with 12 kills and a .611 attack percentage. She also added five blocks.
