Rebels Drop Heartbreaker 3-2 On Road At Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. It was a tough Sunday for the Rebels as Ole Miss (8-4, 0-2 SEC) dropped a heartbreaking decision to the Crimson Tide of Alabama (7-4, 2-0 SEC) by a score of 3-2 (25-30, 33-31, 30-25, 27-30, 9-15).

Despite being in control for a majority of the contest, the Rebels were unable to close out the Tide in Tuscaloosa for the second straight-season as Ole Miss also fell to Alabama 3-2 on the road in 2005.

Katie Kramer led the Rebels attack with 19 kills, while Jaclyn Toohey added 16 kills and Kristen Carroll put up 12 kills on the afternoon. Four Rebels posted solid defensive performances as Tara Langley led the squad with 22 digs. Rachel Kieckhaefer added 15 digs to go along with 12 digs from Carroll and 10 digs from Allison Weber.

“I thought we battled well today,” said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. “We have got to keep learning more about ourselves and believing in ourselves in tight situations like this. It was a total team effort today.”

Ole Miss grabbed the opening point off a kill from Kramer, but Alabama answered with a score of its own to open up a five-point run to take an early lead on the Rebels. Another kill from Kramer snapped the run as the Rebels stormed back to claim the lead 11-10.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Alabama quickly answered the Rebel run and moved out to a two-point advantage at 15-13. The run pushed Ole Miss to call a timeout.

The Rebels scored three quick points out of the break, tying the match at 15 on a service ace from Carroll before moving ahead on a kill from Toohey. Another quick score put Ole Miss up 17-15 as Alabama called a timeout to regroup.

A kill from Lauren Moffett continued the Rebel scoring out of the break as Ole Miss used two more quick scores to push the lead out farther to 19-15. The Rebels would continue to forge ahead of the Crimson Tide, but another Alabama run that cut the lead to two at 24-22 would push Ole Miss into its second timeout.         

Two quick scores from the Tide out of the break in action saw the match knotted at 24 before Alabama would retake the lead on a block. Ole Miss called another timeout when the Tide went up 26-24, continuing its run. The Rebels could not regain the advantage, falling to Alabama 30-25 despite holding the five point edge late in the game.

Alabama quickly took a 4-1 lead on the Rebels to open the second game of the match, but Ole Miss would stay with the Tide from there. The Rebels cut the lead to three at 9-6, but when the lead ballooned out to six, the Rebels called timeout down 13-7.

The Rebels took advantage of miscues by the Tide to cut into the lead out of the break, forcing Alabama to call its own timeout as Ole Miss trimmed the lead to 16-12. Ole Miss called a second timeout as the lead swelled back out to nine at 23-14 in favor of the home standing Tide.

Alabama called its second timeout up 25-19 when Ole Miss again attempted to mount a rally. A solo block from Emily Jones met the Tide attack out of the break as the Rebels continued to cut into the Alabama advantage.

Ole Miss continued to pound away at the Tide, tying the game at 28, before taking the lead on a Toohey kill. The Tide responded to tie things at 30 as the teams traded scores, but the Rebels held out, taking the second game 33-31.

The Rebels snagged the first point of the third game on a kill from Carroll and continued to build off the momentum gained in game two with an early 7-4 lead. The Crimson Tide chipped away at the Ole Miss lead, eventually tying the match at 10.

There was a break in the action called by the officials when the Rebels protested a call as the officials ruled a ball in that landed a foot behind the baseline. Alabama held a 15-12 lead at the break in play.

The Rebels fought back out of the break, tying the match at 18 and forcing Alabama to call a timeout to halt the Ole Miss rally. The Rebels would continue to score on the Tide, taking the lead by five at 24-19 and pushing Alabama into its second timeout of the game.

Ole Miss would not relinquish the lead, taking the third game 30-25.

The Crimson Tide scored first out of the gates in game four, but Ole Miss would hang with the Tide as the two squads traded scores from the start. The Rebels finally pulled away from the home team, taking a 15-11 lead on a service ace from Allison Weber and forcing Alabama into a timeout.

The Crimson Tide called its second timeout of the match as Carroll laid down a service ace to put Ole Miss up 19-15. Alabama rallied out of the pause, tying the game at 19 with a four-point run. Ole Miss would again find an answer to the run, scoring on a kill from Rachel Kieckhaefer to retake the lead.

Alabama called its third timeout of the match when the Rebels pushed the lead back out to two at 23-21. The break in action worked for the Tide as Alabama would climb back into the match, taking the lead 27-25 and forcing the Rebels to call timeout.

Ole Miss called another timeout at game point with the Tide leading 29-26, but the Crimson Tide would score out of the break to claim the fourth game 30-27.

Ole Miss scored the first point of the decisive fifth game, but Alabama quickly stormed out to a 4-1 lead as the Rebels called timeout. Ole Miss could not slow down the Tide, as Alabama held an 8-3 lead when the teams swapped ends of the court.

 The Rebels would cut the lead to two at 9-7, but Alabama would again push ahead. Ole Miss called timeout down 11-7 to regroup. The Rebels were unable to overtake the Tide as Alabama claimed the match with a 15-9 win in game five.

Ole Miss will return to action on Friday, when the Rebels play host to the 13^th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols. Ole Miss and Tennessee will face-off at 7 p.m. at the Gillom Sports Complex on campus at the University of Mississippi.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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