Nakeyta Clair follows through after hitting the ball. (File Photo Cameron Brooks)
Head Coach Steven McRoberts, now entering his third season at the helm of Ole Miss volleyball, has seen the team rise from the bottom of SEC standings.
Prior to McRoberts joining the volleyball family in 2013 as head coach, the team finished last for the SEC standing with an overall record of 26-34. Last year, McRoberts led the team to a school record of 15 home wins, finishing in the top half of the league standings.
With returning senior setter Aubrey Edie in the starting lineup, the Rebels are sure to continue their SEC rising trend. Edie starts the season in need of just 275 assists to become the career record holder.
However, the rest of the league’s coaches are not as confident in the Rebels for the 2016 season.
Wednesday, the preseason SEC Coaches’ Poll and the players on the preseason All-SEC team were released. Ole Miss is picked to finish twelfth. In the last two years, Ole Miss has been picked to finish tenth (2014) and eighth (2015).
“There are a lot of good teams in this conference, but the preseason poll the last two years has been wrong about us,” McRoberts told OleMissSports.com. “We have finished higher than where the other coaches voted us. I get to see the work and effort that our team puts in every day and I feel really good about us. We are going to keep putting our effort and energy into things that we can control and right now that is every day in practice. In nine days, we will be putting all of our focus on UC Davis. We have over a month before we need to worry about SEC play.”
McRoberts has the luxury of four starters returning this season.
Alongside Edie, the Rebels welcome back juniors Taylor Alexander, Kate Gibson and Lexi Thompson and Kathryn Cather, who made the All-Freshman team last year. McRoberts adds even more depth and talent to their roster with newcomers consisting of quality sophomores and freshmen.
The Rebels’ team motto this season is “FIN1SH- Future is Now. One Team, One Goal.” After coming close to making the NCAA Tournament the past two years, the team is now hoping to take the next step.
The Rebels will be featured at least six times this season on TV, including four on the SEC Network and two on ESPNU. Games not on the SEC Network or ESPNU will be available on SEC Network and via WatchESPN, SEC Network.com and the ESPN app.
All home games this year will be played at The Pavilion at Ole Miss while the Gillom Sports Center is undergoing renovation. The 2016 season begins at the North Dakota Tournament against UC Davis on Aug. 26.
