Ty Laporte hits the ball during an NCAA college volleyball match in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. (DM Photo/Ariel Cobbert)
The Ole Miss Rebels volleyball team continued their winning ways as they equaled their win total from 2013 at the Rebel Classic over the weekend at the Gillom Sports Center. The Rebels went 4-0 and remain undefeated as they prepare for the start of SEC play next week.
Head coach Steve McRoberts smiled big after the win as the team is off to its best start in program history.
“It’s a testament to the players. They’ve done everything we’ve asked,” McRoberts said. “They’ve working hard. My staff has done a great job coaching them, and all the credit goes to them.”
After defeating Louisiana Tech in a sweep last Thursday, the Rebels won in straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-16) on Friday night as they defeated Samford.
Freshman Lexi Thompson played a brilliant game as she led the Rebels with nine kills, while sophomore Melanie Crow continued her stellar season with eight kills. Sophomore Aubrey Edie added 29 assists in her dominating performance in the win.
Saturday, the Rebels participated in a double-header against Lamar and Jackson State, where they were challenged a little bit.
The Rebels had no trouble against Lamar after winning in three sets (25-12, 25-20, 25-17). Senior Nakeyta Clair led the team with 9 kills and hit .500 against the Cardinals. Junior Ty Laporte also racked up 9 kills with a 5.83 hitting percentage.
“Any time you’ve gotten two middles that are hitting above .300 on the season it helps the team tremendously,” McRoberts said.
Following the victory over Lamar, Ole Miss took on a Jackson State (1-14) club who tested the Rebels. After Ole Miss took the first set 25-12, the Tigers beat the Rebels 25-23 in the second set in what was the first set loss of the tournament. After the set loss, the Rebels responded by winning the next two sets (25-13) and (25-5).
“Our team did what’s it done all season, and that’s responding to challenges. We challenged the team between two and three, and you can see by the scores that they responded.”
Laporte continued her impressive play with 13 kills and four blocks, while hitting 4.55 to carry the Rebels to victory. Middle-blocker Clair finished with 7 kills.
“We need to challenge each other, and motivate each other,” Clair said. “We need to keep our energy high and just stay in a positive manner.”
Setter Edie was named the Rebel Classic Most Valuable Player and was selected to the All-Tournament Team along with Laporte and Clair.
The Rebels will now turn their attention to SEC play, which they will open next weekend at South Carolina and seventh-ranked Florida. McRoberts made it a goal for the Rebels to be competitive and win as many games as they could before conference play began.
“We wanted to get this team used to winning, and having that winning confidence,” he said. “Hopefully that happened, and we’ll see next week how we come out and perform after a great preseason.”
