Volleyball To Host Magnolia Tournament This Weekend

Sept. 10, 2003

OXFORD, Miss. -

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The Ole Miss volleyball team, in search of its first win on the 2003 season, will host the Magnolia Tournament Friday and Saturday at the Gillom Sports Center. Alcorn State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Portland are coming to town for the two-day tourney, the first tournament the Lady Rebels have hosted under second-year head coach Joe Getzin.

The Lady Rebels are coming off a disappointing 3-1 loss to Arkansas State in their home opener Tuesday night. The team came out strong in game one and held off the Lady Indians 30-26. Arkansas State won games two and three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Ole Miss had its chances in game four, but couldn't quite get over the hump, falling 30-23.

Junior outside hitter Elena Garcia led Ole Miss with 13 kills and 17 digs, her sixth double-double of the season. She notched her 600th kill and dig in the match. Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Refenes had nine kills and six blocks. She leads the conference with 1.52 blocks per game. Freshmen Jillian Ohrman and Clarissa Walker both made solid contributions against ASU. Ohrman had four kills on seven attacks for a .429 clip playing in two games. Walker hit .500 with six kills on 12 attacks in two games.

"We are excited to host a tournament and looking forward to a big weekend with a home football game as well," Getzin said. "We played better against Arkansas State. We are young, and if we continue to improve, the wins will come."

The Lady Rebels' first opponent of the tournament, Alcorn State, comes into the tournament with a 1-7 overall record. The two will face off at 1 p.m. Friday in the second match of the day. The Lady Braves are coming off an 0-3 showing at the New Mexico Tournament last weekend dropping matches to Delaware (3-0), Youngstown State (3-0) and New Mexico (3-1). The Lady Braves are led by junior right side hitter Donika Sutton, who finished with 23 kills, 13 digs and 11 blocks at the New Mexico Tournament.

In the nightcap Ole Miss will take on Portland, who sports a 5-2 record. They posted a 2-1 record at the Portland Pilot Preview last weekend, with wins over Chicago State (3-0) and Portland State (3-2). They lost to Southeastern Louisiana 3-0. The Pilots played Chicago State again Tuesday night and won by the same score (3-0) of the previous match-up. Senior outside hitter Heather Denison leads Portland with 102 kills (3.92 per game). Sophomore outside hitter Sara Vercruyssen leads the team in digs with 72 (2.77 per game). This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

While this will be the first time Portland and Ole Miss have faced each other, it will be a reunion of sorts for freshman Jennifer McGowan, who hails from Gresham, Ore. Portland has three members on its team from Gresham, including two former teammates of McGowan's at Gresham High School.

"It will be neat to see my old teammates again," McGowan said. "It's been awhile since I've seen them. I want to show the people back home how proud I am to be part of the volleyball program at the University of Mississippi. We are working hard to improve and believe we can win. Our goal is to win the tournament."

On Saturday the Lady Rebels will conclude the tournament with Arkansas-Little Rock, who comes into the weekend with a 4-3 record. They went 1-2 at the UTA Invitational in Arlington, Texas last weekend, falling to Texas-Arlington 3-1 and UC-Irvine 3-0, before defeating Oral Roberts 3-0 in their final match. The Trojans are led by junior outside hitter Ivana Vracar with 154 kills (5.31 per game) and 97 digs (3.34 per game). Sophomore outside hitter Larisa Durmisevic is second on the team with 125 kills (4.31 per game) and 75 digs (2.59 per game).

MAGNOLIA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 12
Portland vs. UALR              11 a.m.
Ole Miss vs. Alcorn State       1 p.m
Alcorn State vs. UALR           5 p.m.
Ole Miss vs. Portland           7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 13
Portland vs. Alcorn State      Noon
Ole Miss vs. UALR               2 p.m.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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