Griffin Ray
The Rebels brought out the brooms in all three matches in their home debut this past weekend. The offense was unstoppable on all aspects of the game and improved in some much-needed areas from their prior matches.
On Thursday, Sept. 7 against Alcorn State, Ole Miss showed confidence and energy and were very excited to be back in front of a home crowd in Gillom Athletics Performance Center.
After their first three matches of the season, the issues and uncertainties on defense slowly started to improve, but they took a noticeable jump starting Thursday.
The total errors were down drastically from their first match by a margin of 24 errors in three matches as opposed to their most recent 10. The Rebels also racked up more blocks than they had before, and sets were noticeably longer because they were receiving and digging the ball better.
Sophomore defensive specialist Cammy Neisen contributed in a big way with 15 digs and three assists in the Rebels’ sweep against Alcorn state.
Not only did the defense show improvement, but this already-elite offense found a way to perform even better. The Rebels hit for an unfathomable .488 hitting percentage in their win against Alcorn State. With a very strong start to their home play, this was only the beginning to a very successful week for Ole Miss volleyball.
On Friday’s game against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, the Rebels stayed large and in charge of their opponents, earning another 3-0 sweep. The hitting percentage went down a little bit, but was still an above average .386.
Ole Miss’ offense continued to shine as they totaled a whopping 50 kills against the Jackrabbits; the Rebels even earned themselves seven aces. The star player of Friday’s match was far and away senior outside hitter Anna Briar. Briar had herself a game, earning 14 kills, five digs and an impressive three aces.
To top off the Ole Miss Invitational, the Rebels got their third and final sweep of the weekend against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. Making quick work of the Golden Eagles, Ole Miss comfortably won the match 3-0 with the help of 34 kills and only ten errors in the afternoon. Senior middle blocker Payton Brgoch led the Rebels with ten kills and five blocks.
A promising future lies ahead as the Rebels look to their next opponents in the SFA Invitational in Nacogdoches, Texas. The first match will be against Tulsa and begin at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 15.
