The University of Mississippi Athletics
Volleyball To Take On South Carolina and Kentucky This Weekend
10/1/2003 | Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. -
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The Ole Miss volleyball team continues its conference road swing this weekend with stops at South Carolina and Kentucky. The Lady Rebels (2-13, 1-1) will face the Gamecocks Friday at 7 p.m. in Columbia and then travel to Lexington on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match against the Wildcats.
After opening SEC play with a thrilling 3-2 win at home over Mississippi State, Ole Miss lost a tough 3-1 battle at Tennessee last Friday. Game one went to overtime, with Tennessee edging Ole Miss 35-33. The Lady Vols won game two 30-25 and then Ole Miss took game three 30-24. Ole Miss trailed by only one in game four (19-18), but an 11-4 run by the Lady Vols closed out the game 30-22 and the match.
Junior Elena Garcia leads the Lady Rebels with 165 kills. She is averaging 3.51 kills and 3.66 digs per game overall to rank among the league leaders. After the opening week of conference play, Garcia leads in SEC matches only with 4.33 digs per game and ranks fifth in kills with 4.33 per game.
As a team, the Lady Rebels are second in digs at 15.44 per game and third in kills at 15.33 per game. They are also third in assists with 13.67 per game, paced by freshman setter Jennifer McGowan, who ranks third in the league with 12.33 apg.
South Carolina comes into Friday's match with a 7-7 overall record, 1-1 in the SEC. They are coming off a split in the opening weekend of conference play, defeating LSU 3-0 and then losing to Arkansas 3-0. The Gamecocks are led by redshirt freshman right side hitter Lynae Vanden Hull who has 152 kills on the season, an average of 2.92 per game. Sophomore Nicole Miller leads the team in digs with 166 (3.07 per game).
On Sunday, the Lady Rebels will face a Kentucky team that comes into the weekend 8-6 overall and searching for its first conference win. The Wildcats dropped a pair of SEC matches this past weekend, losing 3-1 to Arkansas and 3-2 to LSU. Junior outside hitter Sarah Spinner leads the Wildcats with 201 kills (3.72 per game). She ranks seventh in the conference. Freshman libero Jenni Casper is tops in digs with 183 (3.39) per game.