Rebels Claim Magnolia Invitational With 3-1 Win Over SMU

OXFORD, Miss. The Rebels put forth a balanced attack and a solid defensive effort on Saturday, using double-digit kill performances from four players as Ole Miss (4-5) claimed the Magnolia Invitational with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-23) win over SMU (6-3).

Caitlin Weiss led the Rebel attack with 15 kills on the afternoon, while Regina Thomas added 12 kills and Miranda Kitts and Katie Norris put down 10 kills each. Allison Weber led the Rebel defense with 18 digs, while Emily Kvitle added 14 digs and Rachel Kieckhaefer came up with 11 digs. Thomas also added five blocks.

Thomas was named Tournament MVP as she averaged 3.58 kills per set and hit .404 for the Tournament. Joining her on the All-Tournament team from Ole Miss were Rachel Kieckhaefer, Caitlin Weiss and Allison Weber.

"The biggest thing about this win is even though we came up short against Georgia Tech last night, we still got better," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "To follow up that hard-fought match with another hard-fought win shows a lot of growth by this team.

"We have learned a lot during the pre-season. The thing is we have got to continue to get better at several things if we are going to achieve our goals. We have lots of work ahead, but it's nice to end up a win and head into Southeastern Conference play."

SMU controlled things out of the gates in the first set, using a solid hitting performance and an aggressive attack to go after the Rebels. The Mustangs hit .317 in the set and tallied 17 kills as a team to push past Ole Miss 25-17 and take the lead.

The Rebels answered in the second set, hitting at a blistering .441 clip and putting down 17 kills of their own to turn the tables on the Mustangs. Thomas helped lead the way as she hit .800 for the frame with four kills on five swings and no errors. Ole Miss evened the match with the 25-13 win in set two.

Ole Miss continued to burn up the nets, hitting .405 for the third game and putting down 21 kills on the way to a 25-20 win in the third set. Thomas again led the way with five kills for the frame as Ole Miss notched 21 of its 25 points off of kills.

The Rebels closed out the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set. Ole Miss saw Weiss step up to pace the offense in the fourth frame as the junior put down seven of her 15 kills to push the Rebels to the win.

Ole Miss will return to action on Sunday, September 21 when the Rebels travel to Auburn to open Southeastern Conference play. The match with the Tigers will begin at 1:30 p.m.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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