It’s been a season of many firsts and accomplishments that haven’t been achieved in a long time for the Ole Miss Volleyball team. Wednesday evening at the Newell-Grissom Building, the Rebels added another one, beating rival Mississippi State 3-1 to record their 20th win of the season.
It marks the Rebels’ (20-5, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) first 20-win season since 2007 when they finished 25-8. Ole Miss swept the season series with the Bulldogs.
Sophomore setter Aubrey Edie recorded a career-high 62 assists as four players finished with double-digit kills led by junior Nakeyta Clair. Clair finished with 18 kills on a .607 attack percentage and only one error.
Freshman Lexi Thompson posted her fifth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 21 digs. She also had two of the Rebels’ eight service aces. Melanie Crow had 13 kills and Ty Laporte finished with 12. Senior Cara Fisher had 22 digs and Marie-Pierre Bakima tallied 13 digs.
The Rebels finished the night with 82 digs and hit .292 as a team.
“We are really proud of the team. That is one of our best hitting percentages in conference and a lot of people contributed,” head coach Steven Mc Roberts said. “Having 81 digs is huge for us; our defense stepped up in the third and fourth sets and got some good touches. We got some crucial digs. It was a great win for us. Mississippi State played well tonight, so it was a good road win for us.”
State led 2-1 early in the first set, but the Rebels used an 8-2 run to take a 9-4 lead. After Mississippi State closed the gap to 12-11, McRoberts called timeout. The two teams traded points, but at 15 all, Ole Miss finished off the Bulldogs with a 10-3 run to take the set 25-18.
The Bulldogs got off to a 6-3 lead in the second set and only relinquished the lead once. The Rebels eventually pulled to within one, 22-21, but the Bulldogs won the next two points for their first set point. The Rebels answered on a kill from Clair and a bad set by State’s Shelby Anderton to get within one again (24-23), but Bulldog Alex Warren came up with the kill on the their fourth set point to close out the Rebels 25-23.
Both teams kept it close in the third set, but the Bulldogs went on a 4-1 run to break an 18-18 tie and led 22-19. The Rebels did as they have done many times this season, going on a 6-1 run led by back-to-back kills from Clair to close out the set 25-23 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Ole Miss carried the momentum over to the fourth set getting out to a 9-3 lead on the Bulldogs. State kept battling though, and eventually gained a 19-18 lead. The Rebels bounced back to go on a 7-3 run and close out the Bulldogs, including back-to-back aces from Thompson.
The Rebels take their two-match win streak to College Station, Texas, this weekend for a Sunday match at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M.
