FRIDAY: OLE MISS 3, KENNESAW STATE 0
Behind a fantastic performance from freshman right side hitter Melanie Crow, the Ole Miss volleyball team (3-1) cruised to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-18) victory over Kennesaw State in the opening match of the Magnolia Invitational at the Gillom Sports Center.
Playing in their home opener, the Rebels fed off the energy of the crowd to take the match in three quick sets. The Rebels tallied a season-high hitting percentage of .311, and trailed just once throughout the entirety of the match.
“It’s great to be back home and put on a show for the young kids on School Day,” Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said. “We play well at home and it was good to see that we played better today than last week. We’ve made some progress on some things.”
FRIDAY: GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3, OLE MISS 1
Junior Marie-Pierre Bakima had a team-high 13 kills, but the Ole Miss volleyball team (3-2) could not find an answer to the Georgia Southern attack and fell 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 13-25, 18-25) Friday evening at home in the Magnolia Invitational.
Playing in their second match of the day, Ole Miss lost a tough opening set before rebounding with a convincing set-two victory. The Eagles (5-1) responded with a well-played third set and closed out the Rebels in the fourth set to take the 3-1 victory.
SATURDAY: OLE MISS 3, ARKANSAS STATE 1
Sophomore middle blocker Nakeyta Clair tied an Ole Miss volleyball single-match record with nine block assists Saturday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Center, and the Rebels (4-2) topped Arkansas State 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23) in the final match of the Magnolia Invitational.
“I was pleased with the way we responded to last night’s loss,” Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said. “The kids did a great job of bouncing back and playing a very scrappy Arkansas State team. If we didn’t do the things we did today we would have ended up with a flip of the score. I’m really pleased with the team and how they handled it.”
