Nakeyta Clair follows through after hitting the ball. (PHOTO BY: CAMERON BROOKS)
The Ole Miss volleyball team brought home the gold and improved their record to 10-1 after winning all three matches in the Rebel Classic at the Gillom Sports Center this weekend in Oxford.
The Rebels took a quick 3-0 win over the Belmont Bruins on Thursday night.
Ole Miss’ strong defense helped them defeat the Bruins. The Rebels had 57 digs with an average of 19 digs per set. Junior Kristen Brashear led the team with 14 digs. Her teammates, freshman Caroline Adams and sophomore Kate Gibson, contributed 12 and 11 digs respectively.
Senior Ty Laporte led the Rebels offensively with nine kills, but five players with at least five kills was certainly a major component.
Friday morning was shaky as the Rebels took their match against Buffalo to five sets. Ole Miss fell behind early, losing the first two sets. Whether it was exhaustion from the night before or the psychological effect of playing an 0-6 team, the Rebels seemed off-beat. Service errors and miscommunication gave them trouble. Luckily, they were able to grind the third set out with a 25-22 victory and build up some momentum to finish out the game.
“We don’t need to be satisfied with making comebacks,” Steve McRoberts, Ole Miss’ head coach, said. “We’ve made a few, but when you play good teams like Southern Miss, you can’t afford to go down one or two sets.”
In the final match of the tournament, Ole Miss sealed the deal in three sets. They shook off the morning’s poor play and got down to business. They handed Southern Miss their first loss of the season and held them to hitting just a .184 percentage. The Rebels had 50 kills, 33 digs and nine blocks.
Junior setter Aubrey Edie stole the show against the Golden Eagles. She averaged 12 assists per set, hit .329 and recorded two service aces and five blocks. This weekend was her second tournament in a row to win MVP honors.
“I’m just really proud of the team. It was a long day today,” McRoberts said at the end of the tournament. “We fought back from being two sets down against Buffalo. We finished well there and took that momentum into the evening against Southern Miss.”
The Rebels have now won seven straight tournament titles dating back to 2014.
Ole Miss will face Lipscomb on Wednesday. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
