The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Memphis
Women's Volleyball Downs Memphis, 3-1
10/19/1999 | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. -- Junior Renata Nowacki had a career high 17 digs to help lead the Ole Miss Lady Rebel volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over the visiting University of Memphis Tigers in the 60th match-up of these long time rivals.
The Rebels (9-11) needed this win as they prepare to take on nationally ranked Arkansas on Friday at 7:30 pm in the Women's Sports Complex in Oxford. Memphis fell to 8-16, having lost three straight and 11 of their last 12 matches.
"We really needed this win," said Ole Miss head coach John Blair. "With the exception of the third game, we executed well and it was good to come away with a victory,"
Ole Miss took a two game lead, defeating the Tigers 15-8 and 15-10. The Lady Rebels committed only two errors on the way to a .406 attacking percentage in game one, while Memphis could only manage to hit .075 from the court.
Memphis did rebound with a 15-1 win in game three, totally dominating the Lady Rebels, who committed more errors than they had kills. After dropping that third game, however, Ole Miss fought back with 17 kills in the fourth game to seal the game and the victory.
"Memphis did not come here to play us well," said Blair, "they came here to beat us. They had a good game plan and played well. We are lucky to pick up the win."
For the seventh time this season, three Lady Rebels recorded double digit kill marks. Junior Kira Zschau led the way for the Lady Rebels with 14 kills and seven digs. Sophomore Jaime Burns followed with 13 kills and 12 digs, her eighth double-double of the season. Lauren Dorcheus rounded out the trio with 10 kills and a team high seven blocks.
In addition to leading the match in digs, Nowacki led the team in assists with 27. She also added to her team leading service ace per game mark with an ace in the critical fourth game., one of three for the Lady Rebels in the match.
Ole Miss continues to lead the all-time series with Memphis, improving to 31-29 against the Tigers, while Blair improved to 4-1 against Memphis head coach Carrie Yerty. Ole Miss has matched up with Memphis more than any other school in Lady Rebel history, dating back to 1977.
The Lady Rebels now return to Southeastern Conference action against nationally ranked Arkansas on Friday in Oxford. The No. 22 Ladybacks have lost only one conference match this season, to fourth ranked Florida, and have won six straight SEC matches. The match time has been pushed back to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate fans who also wanted to see some of the Lady Rebel soccer match against Tennessee at 7:00 p.m.
Memphis 8 10 15 7Ole Miss 15 15 1 15
Memphis (8-16), Ole Miss (9-11)
