Rebels Use Dominant Game Five To Defeat Tennessee 3-2

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. The Rebels pulled off its second weekend sweep in a row on Sunday as Ole Miss (17-4, 7-3 SEC) defeated Tennessee (8-9, 3-7 SEC) by a score of 3-2 (30-19, 25-30, 30-25, 24-30, 15-5) in Knoxville.

The win over the Lady Vols is only the fifth ever for the Rebels as a program and marked the first win over Tennessee since the 1994 season.

Katie Kramer and Caitlin Weiss led the Rebels with 15 kills each, while freshman Jackie Jones added 12 kills. Rachel Kieckhaefer led the Revels in digs with 23, while Tara Langley added 22 digs on the afternoon.

Ole Miss claimed the first point of the match on an attack error by the Vols before a second point went on the board off a kill from Weiss. Tennessee got on the board on the next point on a kill, but the Rebels held to a slim two-point margin until Tennessee tied things at eight.

The Rebels quickly surged back ahead with a run to put Ole Miss up 15-10 and force Tennessee to call a timeout. The Lady Vols responded, however, cutting the lead to one at 16-15 and pushing Ole Miss to call a timeout of its own. The Rebels responded out of the break with a kill from Emily Jones and a block from Lauren Moffett to push back ahead by three.

Ole Miss continued to build on the lead, taking the advantage out to 24-18 and forcing Tennessee to call its second timeout of the opening frame. The Lady Vols grabbed the first point out of the break, but it wasn’t enough as the Rebels would not let Tennessee score again. Ole Miss claimed the first game 30-19.

The Lady Vols grabbed the first two points of the second frame before the Rebels would get on the board and tie things with two quick scores of their own. The Lady Vols continued to pressure the Rebels, however, reclaiming the lead and moving ahead 5-2 on a quick run. Tennessee held to the advantage and extended it out to 14-8 and pushing Ole Miss to call timeout.

The Rebels couldn’t find an answer to slow down the UT attack in game two, as the Lady Vols held the advantage to the end and claimed game two 30-25.

The Lady Vols took the opening point of the third frame before a kill from Emily Jones put the Rebels on the board in the next play. The squads traded scores from there before Ole Miss would push ahead by four at 7-3. The lead grew for the Rebels from there as Tennessee called timeout down 16-9 to Ole Miss.

The Lady Vols mustered a run, cutting the lead to one at 24-23 in favor of the Rebels and pushing Ole Miss to call a timeout to halt the run. The Rebels scored out of the break on a Weiss kill before a Tennessee attack error pushed the lead back to 26-23 in favor of Ole Miss and caused the Lady Vols to call timeout.

Ole Miss moved to game point when a red card was pulled on the Tennessee coach and a kill from Weiss gave the Rebels the third game 30-25.

Tennessee scored first to open game four on a kill from Yulia Stoyanova before a Kramer kill got Ole Miss on the board. The Lady Vols quickly moved out to a 14-9 lead and forced Ole Miss into a timeout as Tennessee notched several blocks in a row to pull ahead of the Rebels.

Ole Miss cut the lead to two at 16-14, but Tennessee began another run to pull back out to the big lead.  The Rebels called a second timeout down 21-15. Ole Miss mounted a run to cut the lead to four at 28-24 and force Tennessee into a timeout, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Vols claimed game four 30-24 on a kill and a service ace.

The Rebels scored first in the fifth frame off a kill from Emily Jones and moved out 3-0 on back-to-back ball handling errors by Tennessee. The lead grew to 8-3 in favor of the Rebels when the teams switched ends of the floor.  A service ace from Moffett made it 9-3 and forced Tennessee into a timeout.

The Lady Vols called a second timeout as two more points fell the way of the Rebels and pushed Ole Miss up 11-3. There was no answer for the pressure applied on the attack by the Rebels as Ole Miss claimed the match with a 15-5 win in game five.

Ole Miss will return to action on Wednesday when the Rebels continue SEC play on the road at No. 18 LSU. Ole Miss and the Tigers are set for a 7 p.m. start time at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on campus at LSU.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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