KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It was not the Rebels day Sunday at Thompson Boling Arena, as Tennessee handed the Ole Miss volleyball team a 3-0 loss for their first SEC win in conference play. The Rebels fall to 18-5 overall and 4-5 in league play.
The Rebels were held to their lowest attack percentage of the season (.128) on 24 errors, falling to 2-5 overall and 0-5 when hitting below .200. Sophomore Melanie Crow led the Rebels with 10 kills. Freshman Lexi Thompson finished with nine kills.
Ole Miss won the first point of the match, but Tennessee broke a 5-5 tie to go up 10-5, as Coach McRoberts called his first timeout. The Lady Vols increased their lead on a .310 clip, to 22-14. The Rebels used a 5-1 run to cut the lead in half, forcing a Tennessee timeout, but the Lady Vols answered winning the final two points for the set, 25-19.
Things didn’t get much better for the Rebels in the second set. At 5-5, Tennessee went on a 14-5 run to build a 19-10 lead. The Rebels used a 9-4 run to cut it to 23-19, but the Lady Vols, who hit .381 in the set, finished off Ole Miss 25-20.
Trying to extend the match, the Rebels got off to a 6-3 lead in the third set, but the Lady Vols answered. The match was tied at 15-15, when Tennessee went on a 3-0 run to take an 18-15 lead as Coach McRoberts called timeout. They never relinquished their lead, closing out the Rebels 25-22 for the match.
Ole Miss returns home to host South Carolina Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. The match will be televised on the SEC Network.
