Griffin Ray
The Ole Miss Volleyball team hosted South Carolina on Friday night at home to start a weekend of SEC matchups. Following their first SEC loss of the season against No. 24 Auburn, the Rebels came back with a vengeance against the Gamecocks.
Senior middle blocker Sasha Ratliff and junior outside hitter Julia Dyess both came to play on Friday, each earning 19 kills respectively in the Rebels 3-2 win over the Gamecocks. The match went all the way to five sets, ending with Ole Miss scraping through with a 15-13 win in set five.
Not only was the offense explosive on Friday, but the defense also showed out, amassing 73 total digs. Defensive specialist Cammy Nieson held down the fort with 26 digs in the win against the South Carolina.
The Rebels had a very strong showing against an SEC opponent this weekend, giving a promising look moving into SEC play. However, the celebration did not last too long, as the defense proved to be an issue again in Sunday’s loss against Tennessee.
The Rebels got swept at home Sunday against the No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers following a tame offensive showing. The first two sets were back and forth between the two teams, but Tennessee pulled through in each one. Set three was more or less dominated by the Lady Volunteers, as they won 25-16 to cap off the 3-0 sweep.
One thing that the Rebels need to work on for the future is receiving on the other team’s serve. They really struggled on Sunday against that, allowing the Lady Volunteers to get nine serve aces, something Ole Miss simply cannot allow and expect to win. Essentially, the Rebels could not get the ball in the air in order to make a play.
With an offense as good as Tennessee’s, there was little Ole Miss could do to score.. However, none of the sets were blowouts by the highly-ranked Lady Volunteers, so it is a good sign that the Rebels could keep it close against a top team, even if they were not able to win in the end.
The Tennessee match was not a complete loss, however. Sophomore setter Aly Borellis was the most productive Rebel in Sunday’s loss, earning 32 total assists and even two blocks in the short three matches. If she can continue to be a bright spot for this team, great things are in store for the Lady Rebels
Ole Miss will play at home yet again for their next match against Texas A&M on Friday, Oct. 6. The match will be at 6 p.m. at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center and streamed on the SEC Network.
