The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Memphis
Ole Miss Claims Hard Fought Match From Memphis 3-2
10/19/2004 | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2004
Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss (10-10, 2-6 SEC) found out how tough it was on Tuesday, digging down deep to fight off a surging Tiger team as the Lady Rebels evened the season record with a 3-1 (30-27, 19-30, 30-25, 21-30, 15-13) win over Memphis (20-5, 5-0 C-USA).
The Lady Rebels came up with the big win in front of a raucous crowd of 558 on Greek Night at the Gillom Center.
Elena Garcia led the Lady Rebels on the night, coming up with 14 kills to lead the Ole Miss offense. Kristen Carroll added 12 kills while Tricia Eble notched 11 kills on the night. Jennifer McGowan came up big defensively for the Lady Rebels along with Tara Langley, as the duo dug 10 and 14 balls respectively.
"This was a rousing win for us tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "The support of the Greek system on campus has been great for us the past three years. Every night they come out, it's big for us and helps us be successful. This win really goes on the shoulders of the Greek system and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for their support tonight.
"Elena Garcia had a big night for us coming up with 14 kills," Getzin said. "We really outworked them tonight. To be within three digs of a great defensive team like Memphis shows the team is buying into our system and philosophy that hard work pays off."
Ole Miss scored first on a kill from Kristen Carroll that bounced off the hands of the Memphis blockers. The Lady Rebels took a 7-2 lead before Memphis would call a timeout to break up the Ole Miss run and regroup. The Tigers took the first point out of the break on a cross-court kill, sparking a rally that saw Memphis cut the lead to two, but Ole Miss answered with a kill from Garcia.
Memphis cut the lead to one from there at 8-7, and the squads traded scores from there, with Ole Miss holding onto the advantage. The Tigers fought back, tying the match at 16, but the Lady Rebels took the lead back. Memphis called timeout again when the Lady Rebels edged back ahead by two at 23-21.
The Lady Rebels pushed ahead out of the break, extending the lead to five before Memphis cut it back to three and caused Ole Miss to call timeout at 28-25. The Lady Rebels took the first game 30-27.
The first score of the second game went to the Lady Rebels, but Memphis responded quickly, taking the lead with a run that saw them go up 7-2 before Ole Miss could gather itself. The Lady Rebels called timeout down five points to halt the Tiger run.
Memphis continued the run out of the break, pushing the lead out to 15-4 and forcing Ole Miss into its second timeout of the game.
The Tigers held onto the more than 10-point advantage as Ole Miss struggled to get things back on track. The Lady Rebels cut the lead into single digits, only to have Memphis push back ahead. Ole Miss again answered with a run to cut the lead back into the single digits, but it wasn't enough as Memphis took advantage of the large lead to hold on for a 30-19 win in game two.
Ole Miss captured the first point of the third game, but the Tigers responded as the squads traded scores from the outset of the game. The Lady Rebels claimed a two-point edge, only to see it disappear when Memphis tied things at eight. Ole Miss edged ahead again, but the Tigers kept things tight, answering each Rebel score. Memphis called timeout when the Lady Rebels pushed ahead to a 16-13 lead.
Nikki Hill laid down a kill out of the break that ricocheted off the hands of a Memphis defender to keep the Ole Miss lead growing. The lead stretched to six points for Ole Miss at 20-14, but again the Tigers responded, cutting the lead to 20-18 and forcing Ole Miss into a timeout.
The Lady Rebels extended the lead out of the timeout, and forced Memphis into a timeout of its own with a 23-18 lead. The lead continued to grow in favor of the home team as the Lady Rebels took advantage of Memphis miscues to push ahead 25-18. Again the Tigers answered with a run, cutting the lead to four at 28-24 and pushing Ole Miss into a timeout.
Ole Miss took the third game 30-25.
Memphis took the first point of the fourth game on a kill that clipped the back line and extended it on Ole Miss miscues, but Hill slammed home a kill to put the Lady Rebels on the board. The Tigers took a 5-1 lead before Ole Miss would score again. Memphis pushed out to a 10-3 lead and forced Getzin to call a timeout.
The lead held steady out of the break as Memphis maintained the seven-point edge, with the Tigers answering every Ole Miss score. The Lady Rebels called timeout when the Memphis edge crept out to nine points at 18-9. The Tigers continued to hold onto the lead, denying every Ole Miss attempt at a rally. The Lady Rebels finally got a run together, cutting the lead to single digits at 26-17 and pushing Memphis into a timeout.
A service ace from Mary Nell Bennett out of the break continued the Ole Miss scoring, but Memphis responded again and took the fourth game 30-21
The first point of game five went the way of the Tigers on a service error by Ole Miss, but a tip from Cory Tidwell on the next point put Ole Miss on the board. The squads traded scores, but Ole Miss snapped the trading and took its first lead 4-3 on an attack error by Memphis. Garcia came up with a big kill that hit the middle of the court to put Ole Miss up 6-4 and push the Tigers into a timeout.
The Tigers responded out of the break, answering with a score but a lift by the Tigers on the next point put Ole Miss back up by two. Ole Miss held an 8-5 advantage when the teams swapped ends of the court.
The Lady Rebels continued to build on the lead, pushing ahead 11-6 and forcing Memphis into another timeout. The Tigers scored the first point out of the break on a service error by the Lady Rebels, sparking a run that cut the lead to 12-10 and pushing Ole Miss into a timeout.
Ole Miss took the next point on a Memphis service error, and then pushed it to match point when Cory Tidwell took an overpass and slammed it off a Tiger player. Memphis fought off the loss with three straight scores to cut the lead to 14-13 and force the Lady Rebels into a timeout.
Ole Miss took the match with a kill from Carroll that clipped the back line to give Ole Miss game five 15-13.
Ole Miss will continue to play at home this weekend, hosting Southeastern Conference foes Auburn and Alabama in a pair of matches. The Lady Rebels will face Auburn on Friday night at 7 p.m. before facing Alabama at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
