Rebels Hit Road To Open SEC Play At Mississippi State

OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss volleyball team takes to the road to open Southeastern Conference play on Wednesday as the Rebels put their 8-2 record on the line against the 9-1 Bulldogs.

Ole Miss is coming off a 3-0 performance at the Nike/LaQuinta Invitational that saw the Rebels claim the tournament title with a win over host team TCU. Mississippi State enters the match after posting a 4-0 record in the MSU/Microtel Invitational on campus in Starkville over the weekend.

Rebel head coach Joe Getzin looks for his team to use the match with the Bulldogs as a chance to continue to build on the preseason schedule and expects a hard fought match with the in-state rivals.

“We want to take our solid preseason performance and continue to build on that this week,” Getzin said. “It’s all been about preparing us for conference play. I don’t have to do much to motivate the team because they want to win and they are always up whenever we play Mississippi State. We just want to go out each match and prove that we are a good team and one of the better teams in the SEC.”

The Rebels will look to Katie Kramer, who was named MVP of the Nike/LaQuinta Invitational, to help lead the team against the Bulldogs. Kramer leads the team in kills on the season and averaged 5.18 kills per game over the weekend at TCU. She posted a career-high 28 kills against the Horned Frogs in the final match of the weekend.

Tara Langley was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for her efforts at TCU and will be a key component to the Rebels snagging a win. Langley averaged 5.36 digs per game as the starting libero over the weekend and put up a career-high 24 digs against the Horned Frogs.

As a whole, the Rebels have had balanced offense as Kristen Carroll has joined in on the offensive attack with Kramer. Carroll, who plays on the right side, has posted 128 kills on the season and is hitting .302 for the season.

Mississippi State will be looking to Cristina Jucan to spark the offense as Jucan has posted a team best 125 kills on the season and averages four kills per game. She is also the defensive spark for the Bulldogs as she leads the team with 100 digs on the season.

The net defense of the Bulldogs will also be something the Rebels must watch for as Lauren Kowal has posted a team-leading 27 blocks on the season with eight block solos and 19 block assists.

The match between the conference rivals is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the Newell-Grissom Building on the campus of Mississippi State University.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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