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Mississippi St
Ole Miss Earns Big 3-0 Win Over Mississippi State
10/16/2002 | Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss (9-10, 2-5 SEC) entered Wednesday night's Southeastern Conference match against Mississippi State (10-11, 1-6 SEC) knowing that a win would go a long way to pushing the squad toward its goal of the SEC Tournament and get the team back on the winning track.
The sense of urgency carried over to the crowd as a raucous gathering of 1,378 came out on Greek Night to watch the Lady Rebels earn an impressive win over Mississippi State 3-0 (30-21, 30-24, 30-27).
"It's a great win," said head coach Joe Getzin. "The atmosphere is what college athletics is all about. Winning 3-0 is always good, especially in a rivalry match like this. Coming back and closing out the third game was important, because you never want to shift momentum like that.
"Elena Garcia continues to play well for us and show that she is the leader of this team," Getzin continued.
Garcia turned in yet another double-double on the night, recording 16 kills and 15 digs. She was the only Lady Rebel in double digits for both categories, but it was a total team effort as players stepped up in other areas. Senior Sarah Lansden recorded five block assists and the team's only solo block on the night as the Lady Rebels recorded eight total blocks. Jade Polonich and Katie Griffen split time at setter, with the duo notching 26 and 13 assists respectively.
Ole Miss came out tough, buoyed by the crowd and pushed out to a quick 9-5 lead before Mississippi State would push back to close the gap. But the Lady Rebels would surge ahead again forcing the Bulldogs to call timeout at 11-7. The timeout did little good as Ole Miss would surge forward out of the timeout, extending the lead to 18-11.
Mississippi State mounted a rally, capitalizing on Lady Rebel mistakes and pushing back with an attack of its own to close the gap and force Ole Miss to call timeout at 21-18 to halt the run. A kill from Garcia revived the crowd and the Lady Rebel attack as the home team pushed back out to a 27-19 lead when the visitors from Starkville would call timeout again. Ole Miss would close out the game 30-21.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second game scoring the first point, but freshman Rachel Refenes would return the favor, pounding the ball back at Mississippi State to even the score. Another kill and a solo block from Newsom would give Ole Miss the lead at 3-2. A Sarah Lansden ace would continue the scoring. The game would knot up again at four, before a Zschau kill would again break the stalemate. State would rally again and retake the lead 7-6.
Each team would trade blows, testing the other's defense in hopes of finding a weakness to exploit and gain a lead. Mississippi State would find a chink in the armor first, pushing out to a two-point lead at 13-11, but Ole Miss would quickly close rank and tie it back at 13 when the point trading would resume. The Lady Rebels would find their own offense off defense as two straight blocks from Newsom and Garcia would push Ole Miss ahead 17-15.
Mississippi State would fight back and take the lead again at 19-18 off a kill by Hubenthal. Ole Miss would regain a two point lead, extended by an ace from Refenes to make the game 25-22 and Mississippi State would take a timeout at 27-24. The Lady Rebels would finally close out the second game 30-24.
The third game started with the same intensity as the first two, with Mississippi State taking a 4-2 lead on the Lady Rebels. The two point cushion would more or less hold true, before the Lady Bulldogs would find a weakness in the Ole Mis front line and push out to a 9-5 lead. The Lady Rebels responded, tying the game up at 10 with a powerful kill from Zschau. Mississippi State would push ahead again, resulting in an Ole Miss timeout at 15-11.
Ole Miss would close the gap somewhat out of the timeout, but Mississippi State would again push out to a four point lead at 19-15. The Lady Rebels would respond and rally, chipping away at the Lady Bulldog lead before tying the game at 23 off a kill by senior Erica Tricco. Ole Miss would take its first lead of the game at 24 off a Garcia kill. The squads would trade points, with the Lady Bulldogs taking a timeout with the game tied at 27. The Lady Rebels would push out of the timeout, closing the game out and the match 30-27.
Mississippi State got strong play from three players as Hubenthal, Jennifer Rousey and Rachel Cooper all broke into double digits in kills. Hubenthal recorded 11 kills, while Rousey and Cooper both recorded 10 kills each. Tanika Taylor came up with 17 digs, while Hubenthal recorded 11 digs. Jennifer Hadden had 40 assists on the night.
"The atmosphere tonight was absolutely unbelievable," said senior Erin Newsom. "I haven't seen anything like it in four years here. Even when we fell behind in the last game it felt like we were still ahead. I think the crowd did a lot for us, while taking the wind out of Mississippi State a little bit."
The Lady Rebels hope to build off the win against Mississippi State when they take on the Lady Vols of Tennessee on Friday. Ole Miss and Tennessee will face off at 7 p.m. Friday at the Gillom Sports Center on campus.
