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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Tennessee (W)
Rebels Unable To Rally Against Tennessee
9/27/2009 | Volleyball
Norris led the Rebels with 14 kills, while Craven added 10 kills in her second match back from injury to pace the Ole Miss offense. Morgan Springer paced the defense with 11 digs on the night.
"I think it's good that we can finally solidify our lineup," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "We passed well today, but we got a bit timid attacking today, especially in the middle. In the SEC there is no week competition. We have to right the ship here pretty quick and get on the winning way."
It was all Tennessee out of the gates in the first set as the Rebels took a 3-2 lead early on a Lady Vols attack error, but never saw the lead again as kill and a block from the home team put Tennessee back in front. The Rebels couldn't grab the lead back as the Lady Vols pushed on out from there to claim the first set 25-12.
The second set saw the Rebels come out much more competitive, going toe-to-toe with Tennessee early as the squads traded scores. Neither team could pull ahead by more than one point as the two sides repeatedly answered each side with mini runs. Tennessee finally inched ahead 21-19 and sent Ole Miss into a timeout.
The Lady Vols moved out to set point at 24-21, but two kills and a block from Whitney Craven tied the set at 24 and pushed Tennessee into a timeout. Ole Miss then used a service ace from Springer to move out to set point, but a hitting error followed by two Tennessee scores gave the Lady Vols the second set 27-25.
The third set again saw the two squads go toe-to-toe with scores traded back and forth throughout most of the set. Ole Miss hung tight with the Lady Vols, but with the score sitting at 20-19 in favor of the home team, the Lady Vols put together a final run to close out the set 25-20 and claim the match.
Ole Miss will return to action next weekend as the Rebels continue to play on the road at Auburn and Georgia. Ole Miss and Auburn will face-off Friday at 6 p.m. before the Rebels take on Georgia Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
