The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Alabama
Volleyball Loses To Alabama 3-1 Friday
11/7/2003 | Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2003
Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss volleyball team dropped a tough 3-1 (23-30, 30-27, 28-30, 27-30) match to Alabama Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center. The Lady Rebels will host Auburn Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Fans in attendance will have another chance to win two free tickets to the Ole Miss/LSU football game on Nov. 22. Members of ROTC will also be in attendance to cheer on the Lady Rebels.
Junior outside hitter Elena Garcia led Ole Miss with her 16th double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs. Garcia needs three digs to reach 300 for the season. Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Refenes finished with 13 kills and freshman Kristen Carroll added 12 kills and hit .348 for the night.
Ole Miss had 13 service errors, the same as Alabama, but the Crimson Tide aced the Lady Rebels 11 times on their way to winning their 10th straight in the series. The Tide were led by junior outside hitter Erin Heffner, who leads the conference in kills per game. She finished with 21 and also had 10 digs.
"We played a very good Alabama team tonight," head coach Joe Getzin said. "In crunch time, we didn't take care of ball control. The served us well, and we didn't pass well. When you don't do that, it's tough to do anything."
In game one, Alabama raced out to a 12-4 lead forcing Ole Miss to call its first timeout. The Tide extended the advantage to 10 at one point, but the Lady Rebels clawed their way back to get to within 25-20. After an Alabama timeout, the Lady Rebels chipped away to make it 26-23, but that is as close as they would get, losing the next four points and the game, 30-23.
The Lady Rebels fell behind early (9-4) in game two. They won five straight to tie it at nine. From there, the two teams battled back and forth until Alabama won two consecutive points to go up 27-25, as Ole Miss called timeout. The Lady Rebels responded by winning the next two points to tie it at 27, as Alabama used its final timeout. Following the timeout, Refenes served three straight aces to give Ole Miss the game 30-27 and even the match.
With momentum swinging their way, the Lady Rebels came out hoping to gain an early advantage in game three. They trailed 9-7 early, but then Alabama went on a 7-2 run to increase its lead to seven (16-9). Ole Miss battled back to get within 24-21 and then won five of the next six points to take a 26-25 lead, forcing an Alabama timeout. Following the timeout, the Crimson Tide went on a 5-2 run to close out the game 30-28 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Game four stayed tight most the of way. Trailing 12-10, the Lady Rebels won four consecutive points to take a 14-12 lead, as Alabama used its first timeout. Ole Miss increased its lead to 19-15, but the Crimson Tide responded to tie it. Alabama claimed four of the next six points to go up 23-21. After calling timeout, Ole Miss came within one (24-23), but once again, the Crimson Tide answered and pushed their lead back out to three (26-23). The Lady Rebels used their final timeout, but never could get over the hump, as Alabama held on 30-27 to take the match.
