The Ole Miss volleyball team (11-12, 1-9 Southeastern Conference) will get a chance to take down its rival, Mississippi State (11-13, 2-8 SEC), on national TV tonight. The teams will square off at 7 p.m. on ESPNU in Starkville.
Ole Miss is searching for its second conference win of the season. Mississippi State is 11th in the SEC standings, while Ole Miss is right behind in 12th, out of 13 teams. Mississippi State has lost 29 of its last 31 SEC matches and three straight to Ole Miss.
Ole Miss is coming off two losses over the weekend, as it fell at Missouri, which is 27-0 this year, and at Arkansas. This will be the third road game in six days for the Rebels, which is part of a stretch of five games in 10 days.
“Offensively, we’ve had two straight matches where we’ve attacked the ball well,” Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said after the loss to Arkansas. “I’m disappointed in our defensive effort. We need to have them match our offense right now.”
Ole Miss is ninth in the SEC with a hitting percentage of .217, but in its two most recent losses, it posted four sets with hitting percentages over .300.
Defensively, Ole Miss has allowed opponents to hit .207 all season, but Missouri and Arkansas turned in stellar offensive performances against Ole Miss. Missouri hit .389, above its season average of .364, and Arkansas had a season-best .434 hitting percentage against Ole Miss.
The Rebels suffered from a drop in digs and blocks over the weekend. They averaged just 7.8 digs per set, down from their season average of 12.5, and posted just 1.3 blocks per set, also below their season average of 2.2.
Individually, Evan St. Laurent and Kara Morgan saw dips in their digs per set over the weekend as they combined for 10 digs, but Cara Fisher did manage 17 digs in six sets.
Ole Miss did have two players shine in attacking, as Melanie Crow and Nakeyta Clair each had a match with a hitting percentage over .500.
Ole Miss should be able to continue its strong offensive showing, as Mississippi State has the fewest blocks and is allowing the third-highest hitting percentage in the SEC.
Mississippi State enters with an offensive threat in Kimmy Gardiner, who is fourth in the SEC with 4.07 kills per set.
This is the only meeting between Ole Miss and Mississippi State this season, and it is the first time since 1993 that the two will not meet twice in a season.
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