The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Wraps Up Conference Homestand With Auburn And Alabama
10/28/1999 | Volleyball
Oct. 28, 1999
OXFORD, Miss.--After four Southeastern Conference home matches, the Ole Miss Lady Rebel volleyball team will complete their six-game SEC homestand this weekend as they take on Auburn on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Alabama on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
The Lady Rebels (9-14, 0-9 SEC) last conference win was against Alabama in Oxford last season. They are hoping that they can duplicate that feat this year and pick up their first conference win of the season and keep their goal of making it to the eight-team SEC Tournament alive.
The Tigers of Auburn are coming off a split last weekend, dropping a 3-1 match to South Carolina before rebounding to beat Georgia 3-1, both at home. The Crimson Tide of Alabama are hoping to keep their three-game winning streak alive, after defeating conference foes Georgia and South Carolina last weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and beating in-state rival Samford on the road.
Ole Miss is led offensively by sophomore Jaime Burns and junior Kira Zschau. The pair has combined for over half of all the Lady Rebel kills this season. Burns leads the team with 274 kills, while Zschau leads the team with kills in conference matches with 104.
Defensively, the Lady Rebels are led by senior captain Lauren Dorcheus and sophomores Abby Hollander and Leigh Rittiner. Dorcheus leads the team in solo blocks, block assists and total blocks. She also leads the team in solo blocks in conference matches. Hollander and Rittiner combine for the team lead in block assists in conference matches, while Hollander leads the team in conference total blocks.
Junior Renata Nowacki continues to be on a service ace streak. She has now recorded a service ace in 10 of the last 12 matches and leads the team with 10 service aces in conference matches and has 20 on the season. Burns leads the team in overall service aces, including a team high seven against Jackson State earlier this season.
The Lady Rebels are in a must-win situation in conference play. Ole Miss and Mississippi State both remain winless in the conference, while Georgia sports only three conference wins. In order to make the eight-team conference tournament, the Lady Rebels must win at least four of their last six matches and at least one team would have to lose the rest of their matches for Ole Miss to have any shot at postseason play. If the Lady Rebels do not win at least one of this weekend's matches, they could be mathematically eliminated from tournament play.
Earlier this season, the Lady Rebels dropped a pair of matches to Alabama and Auburn on the road, 3-1. Auburn leads the all-time series with Ole Miss 17-14, dating back to 1977, but Ole Miss has not defeated the Tigers since 1995. Alabama leads the Lady Rebels 22-12 in the overall series, dating back to 1976, but was the last conference win for Ole Miss last season.
