Ole Miss Sports Information
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Ole Miss volleyball team came into the Chattanooga match without having dropped a set in the Scenic City Showdown, but the home team took the opening set and then rallied from a 2-1 deficit to steal a 3-2 win from the Rebels.
Ole Miss led 2-1 and 21-19 in set four, before the Mocs used a 6-2 run to finish off set four 25-23 and extend the match to a fifth set. The Rebels came into the weekend 4-0 in five-set matches and it looked like they were headed to 5-0 when they led 12-8 after a tandem block by Aubrey Edie and Nayo Warnell. Chattanooga won five straight points to go up 13-12 and then secured their first match point (14-12) on an attack error from the Rebels. Junior outside hitter Kate Gibson put the ball down to save one match point for 14-13, but on the ensuing rally, Chattanooga’s Allie Davenport earned the kill to seal the comeback.
The Rebels (11-2) still won the Scenic City Showdown as they finished 2-1 in the tournament along with Tennessee State and Chattanooga, but finished with the most points by virtue of beating the Tigers 3-0. TSU defeated Chattanooga 3-1.
Chattanooga jumped out to a 7-3 lead to begin the match. They increased their lead to seven late and won by five, 25-20 on a .303 attack percentage.
The Mocs kept up their momentum in set two, building a 16-11 lead, but Ole Miss answered with a 14-5 run to close out the set 25-21 and even the match. After the 10-minute break, the Rebels came out in the third set and gained an early 6-3 lead. They led 14-13 midway through, but closed out the set on an 11-6 run for 25-19 and a 2-1 lead in the match. The Rebels hit .282 in set three, while Chattanooga hit just .051 with nine errors.
Appalachian State Match
Earlier in the day, the Rebels took on Appalachian State and won 3-0.
Set one was a close back and forth affair until at 10-10, the Rebels used a 15-3 run from there to close out the Mountaineers 25-13 and take the early momentum in the match. The second set was more of the same for the Rebels, as they blew open the match winning 25-11 to go up 2-0 into the break.
Coming out of the short break, Appalachian State gained an early 5-0 lead. The Rebels tied it up at 10 in the middle of the set, and both teams traded points from there on out, with neither one owning more than a two-point lead. Ole Miss gained its first match points at 24-22 on a kill by junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander and a service ace from Aubrey Edie. Consecutive kills by ASU’s Emma Longley erased both match points. On the ensuing rally, Edie set up junior outside hitter Kate Gibson for the final of her match-high 13 kills to give the Rebels their third match point. Longley followed with an attack error on the next series, handing Ole Miss the set 26-24 and their second straight 3-0 win.
Quick hits
• Ole Miss is now 39-3 in non-conference matches under head coach Steven McRoberts.
• The Rebels won their 11th regular season tournament title under Coach McRoberts.
• The Rebels are now 4-1 in five-set matches this season.
• Junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander was named MVP of the tournament. She finished with a career-high 17 kills against UTC on a .438 attack percentage. She also added 6 blocks, 3 service aces and 4 digs. Alexander finished the Appalachian State match with 11 kills on a .556 clip with just one error and also tallied 6 blocks. For the weekend, she averaged 3.91 kills per set, hit .507 and tallied 1.73 blocks per set.
• Junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson and senior setter Aubrey Edie made the All-Tournament Team. Thompson posted her 10th double-double of the season with 21 kills and a match-high 16 digs.
• Edie notched a double-double as well with 50 assists and 10 digs. She also had 4 blocks.
• In the win over Appalachian State, junior outside hitter Kate Gibson notched her fifth double-double of the season with a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs. She hit .273 and also added a service ace and two blocks.
• Sophomore right side Kathryn Cather finished with 9 kills on a .643 hitting percentage against the Mountaineers and added 4 blocks, 3 digs and a service ace.
• As a team, the Rebels hit .368 against Appalachian State and held the Mountaineers to a .060 percentage.
Quoting Coach McRoberts
“Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us. It’s not the way we wanted to end it for sure. We played consistent volleyball in our first two matches and won both in three sets. Chattanooga played a great match tonight. We had a chance to finish in set four and set five and just didn’t execute at the end of sets like we’ve been doing. We know we have a lot of room to improve as we are about to start SEC play next week and I know these young ladies will be ready to get back to work on Monday.”
Up next
The Rebels will open up SEC play next Friday against No. 7 Florida at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The match begins at 6:30 p.m.
