After a 0-2 start in conference play, The Rebels (11-4) captured their first SEC win with a victory over Arkansas in the five sets. The game went back and forth before the Rebels finally pulled away early in set 5.
The Rebels’ attack was fueled by a strong performance from Kathryn Cather, who finished the game with a career high 20 kills, five digs and three blocks.
“Aubrey (Edie) made it really easy. Her sets were always in the right spot and our middle pulls block like crazy so it left me wide open and Aubrey is pretty smart with the ball,” Cather said. “We’ve been working really hard at practice and I’ve been focused on getting better and coming in for more reps and just trying to do the best I can.”
For Edie, a Rebel senior from Fayetteville, Arkansas, the victory was a little more sweet. Edie finished the game with one kill, three digs, five blocks and 48 assists.
“Any SEC win is a good win but it’s a little special when its Arkansas because I’m from there but I don’t think it’s anymore special than any other win,” Eddie said. “I’m just glad we were able to pull out the win.”
Another star of the game, defensive specialist Lexi Thompson, finished the game with nine kills, 21 digs and three blocks.
Besides allowing Arkansas to push the game to a fifth set, Coach Steven McRoberts was happy with the way his team’s performance Sunday.
“It was kind of a roller coaster match, we came out playing really well,” McRoberts said. “Arkansas helped us out a little on the first set with some errors that they made. We had a side-out percentage of about 80 percent the first set, mid-70 percent in the third and back in the 80s in the fifth. Every other set we played well, it was just those second and fourth sets. I feel like we lost some of our aggressiveness. Arkansas did a good job with their serving and got us off and we didn’t handle it well.”
The Rebels host LSU on Wednesday, but after a strong win tonight, McRoberts said he and the team feel confident going into their next matchup.
“Tonight at times we played really well and at times we didn’t, but we were able to get the win and that’s what matters right now,” McRoberts said. “Getting that first SEC win and hopefully we can carry some of that momentum into the match Wednesday.”
