After a quick turn around from a loss to Kentucky, the Ole Miss women’s volleyball team is set to take on Auburn tonight at home.
Although the Rebels lost their last four SEC matchups, Head Coach Steven McRoberts said he feels like those four matches were the best his team has played in conference play. Those matches just so happened to be against the four best teams in the league at the moment.
Kathryn Cather spikes ball during match against McNeese State. (Photo by Taylor Cook)
“We’re in a tough stretch right now in the season,” McRoberts said. “Out of our first seven matches, we’ve played the top four teams in the league.”
With sophomore right side hitter Kathryn Cather back for the Kentucky game, the team had more balance, and McRoberts was glad to have his team healthy again. A couple of freshmen had to step up and fill Cather’s position while she was out, but without her, the number of kills decreased.
“This is not to discredit them, but one of them was not even in the position we have been training her in,” McRoberts said. “When you plug Kat back in, you are getting four kills a set, and she is second in the league hitting over.”
Although the Rebels fell to Kentucky in three sets, the team hasn’t stopped with its energy or preparation.
“It was just a really good volleyball match,” McRoberts said. “We were right there in every single set. Lost in three.”
The Rebels fell to Tennessee as well, but Head Coach Rob Patrick showed his respects to McRoberts and the rest of the volleyball team for Ty Laporte, a star player volleyball player who died in a car accident earlier this year, by having each Tennessee player hand a rose to McRoberts.
“I thought that was a very classy, very sweet thing for them to do,” McRoberts said. “It was an emotional thing for our team of course, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s important for healing.”
The Rebels are hoping to get some confidence back with a few wins this week. They are set to face Auburn at 8 p.m. tonight at The Pavilion and then turn around and play Alabama on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s match will be broadcast on ESPNU.
