The University of Mississippi Athletics
Volleyball To Take On Auburn and Alabama This Weekend
10/22/2003 | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. -
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The Ole Miss volleyball team continues its five-match road swing this weekend with a 7 p.m. match against Auburn Friday and before playing at Alabama on Sunday. The Auburn match will be televised by FoxSportsNetSouth and aired tape-delayed on Sunday at Noon.
The Lady Rebels are looking to snap a three-match losing streak, after losing 3-0 to Memphis Tuesday night on the road. Junior outside hitter Elena Garcia heads into the weekend ranked third in the SEC in digs per game at 3.28 and eighth in kills at 3.51 per game. She needs eight kills and 31 digs to record her 800th in both categories.
"This is a huge weekend for us," head coach Joe Getzin said. "We are still very much in the thick of things in the SEC. This season is not over yet."
Auburn enters the weekend with a 9-11 overall record, 0-8 in the SEC. The Tigers began the season 0-3 and then won nine in a row, before their current streak of eight consecutive losses. Junior outside hitter Ashlee Johns leads the team with 214 kills (4.12 per game). She ranks sixth in the SEC in kills per game. Sophomore outside hitter Camila Lago owns a team-leading 153 digs (2.25 per game). Freshman setter Maira Mogollon has 728 assists on the season. The Tigers are averaging 12.90 kills and 12.49 digs per game.
The Lady Rebels lead the all-time series with Auburn 22-14 and have won six in a row. Ole Miss won both of last year's meetings by a 3-0 score. Prior to last year, the previous three matches had been decided in five games. Ole Miss and Auburn will be facing each other on TV for the second time in three years. In 2001, Ole Miss defeated Auburn 3-2 on FoxSportsNetSouth.
On Sunday, the Lady Rebels will face Alabama at 1:30 p.m. at the CAVE in Coleman Coliseum. Alabama comes into the weekend with a 8-11 overall record, 3-5 in the SEC. They are coming off a split last week, beating their arch-rival Auburn, 3-0 and then falling to Tennessee on the road, 3-1. The Crimson Tide are led by junior outside hitter Erin Heffner, who comes in ranked fifth in the conference in kills per game at 4.16 (283). Heffner also leads the team in digs with 157 (2.31 per game). The Tide are averaging 13.26 kills and 12.96 digs per game.
Ole Miss will be looking to snap an eight-match winning streak by Alabama in the series, which the Crimson Tide lead 28-10. The Lady Rebels' last win in the series came in 1998, a 3-1 victory at home. Ole Miss' last win (3-0) in Tuscaloosa happened in 1997.