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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Alabama
Rebels Rally To Roll Tide 3-2
10/11/2009 | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. - Freshman Whitney Craven put down a team-high 20 kills and came up with 15 digs to help lead a determined Rebel team as Ole Miss (7-11, 1-7 SEC) defeated Alabama (6-12, 4-4 SEC) on Sunday by a score of 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 17-15).
After falling down 2-0 in the match, the Rebels clawed back with a furious rally to defeat the visiting Crimson Tide and pick up the team's first conference win of the season. The win snapped a nine-match losing streak for Ole Miss.
"Whitney Craven looked very comfortable out there, and she's starting to make some plays for us," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "We've put ourselves in a position to win a lot of matches this year, it was nice to see us push through and win this one."
Craven's double-double paced the offense, while three other Rebels tallied double-digit kills. Katie Norris and Caitlin Weiss added 12 kills each, while Regina Thomas put down 10 kills. Three other Rebels tallied double digit digs as Morgan Springer came up with 19 digs to go along with 14 digs from Catherine Heck and 11 digs from Ashley Veach.
The Rebels jumped out to an early lead in the first set, only to see the Crimson Tide chip away at the lead and tie things at nine. The squads traded scores from there before Alabama used a late push to overcome a three-point deficit and claim the first set 25-23.
The second set opened the same as the first, with the Rebels taking the early lead but Alabama whittling away at the advantage to tie things at 10 before taking a three-point edge. Ole Miss would battle back to knot the score at 18, but the Crimson Tide again surged ahead to claim the second set 25-23.
Alabama turned the tables in the third set, opening strong and taking the early lead. But this time it was the Rebels turn to play spoiler as Ole Miss fought back to tie the score at 13 before moving out to a four-point lead at 20-16. The Rebels held on to the lead from there, claiming the third set 25-21.
Set four opened with Alabama again taking an early lead on the home team before the Rebels fought back to even the score at eight. The teams traded score back-and-forth from there before Ole Miss made another push to take a five-point lead at 17-12. The Rebels never looked back with a 25-17 win in the fourth set to even the score at two sets each.
The Rebels opened the fifth set strong, holding a 9-5 lead before Alabama again went to work. The Crimson Tide used a run of its own that included fighting off two match points to tie thing at 14 before Ole Miss finally took control with kills from Weiss and Craven to claim the win 17-15.
Ole Miss will return to action on Wednesday when the Rebels travel to take on Arkansas at 7 p.m.
