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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Make Home Debut In Magnolia Invitational On Friday
9/11/2008 | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss volleyball team will make its 2008 home debut this weekend with the seventh annual Magnolia Invitational as the Rebels (2-4) will play host to Georgia Tech (5-1), SMU (4-2) and Eastern Illinois (3-4).
Ole Miss will take on Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m. at the Gillom Sports Center while the Rebels will close out the day against Georgia Tech at 7 p.m.
"It's always good to be back home and playing in the friendly confines of the Gillom Sports Center," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "We're looking forward to continuing to improve on a daily basis. That's what we worked hard on this week. All three teams bring different styles to the court and that's what the preseason is all about. You play different styles and see how you match up. It's fun to play good teams and see how you match up against them."
The Rebels are coming off a tough weekend on the road at the Gamecock Invitational that saw Ole Miss drop three matches, but saw the continued emergence of several young faces as some freshmen made their presence felt on the court.
Freshman outside hitter Katie Norris continues to perform well for the Rebels, leading the offense with 17 kills against UAB and following that up with a team-high 10 kills against host Jacksonville State. She was named to the All-Tournament team at the conclusion of the event for her performance on the weekend.
Also making the most of her opportunity was freshman middle blocker Regina Thomas, who put down 7.0 blocks and seven kills against Jacksonville State last weekend. Freshman defensive specialist Morgan Springer also played well, putting up double-digit digs against UAB and Jacksonville State.
The Rebels will also continue to rely on the senior leadership of starters Allison Weber at libero, Rachel Kieckhaefer at setter and Emily Jones at outside hitter.
Eastern Illinois enters the weekend with an overall record of 3-4 and is coming off a 1-2 performance at the Holiday Inn Express Panther Challenge, hosted by the Panthers of Eastern Illinois. The Panthers dropped a match to Western Illinois 1-3 before defeating Chicago State 3-0. Eastern Illinois then fell to Toledo 3-0 to close out the event.
The Panthers are led offensively by Alex Zwettler who averages 3.22 kills per set, while Lauren Sopcic is hitting at a .385 clip and averaging 1.74 kills per set. Defensively it's been all Shaina Boylan for the Panthers as she averages 4.25 digs per set. Setting the offense for Eastern Illinois is Lauren Schutte with 8.47 assists per set.
Ole Miss and Eastern Illinois last met in 1999 with the Rebels taking a 3-1 win at the Air Force Invitational. Ole Miss leads the series 5-2.
Other matches on Friday include Georgia Tech against SMU at 10 a.m. and SMU against Eastern Illinois at 4 p.m.
The tournament will conclude with a pair of matches on Saturday with Eastern Illinois and Georgia Tech facing off at 10 a.m. before the Rebels close the tournament against SMU at 1 p.m.
