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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Host Magnolia Invitational This Weekend
9/3/2009 | Volleyball
Competing in the tournament along with the Rebels will be Akron, Alcorn State, UAB and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The tournament begins at 9 a.m. when the Blazers of UAB take on the Lady Braves of Alcorn State. Ole Miss' first match is at 2:30 p.m. against Alcorn State and the final match of the day is at 7:30 p.m. when the Rebels take on Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Admission is free to the public for all volleyball matches this weekend and throughout the 2009 season.
"We're always excited to bring in quality competition and having a pair of NCAA Tournament teams in UAB and UW-Milwaukee continues that tradition," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "Akron is an up-and-coming team from the MAC. We try to play different style teams throughout the year so we see the different systems we might face during the season."
Ole Miss enters the weekend coming off a 1-2 performance at the Missouri Tiger Invitational last weekend where the Rebels defeated Texas State before dropping a pair of tightly contested matches to BYU and Missouri.
Sophomore outside hitter Katie Norris led the Rebels with 37 kills on the weekend and averaged 4.11 kills per set, while junior middle blocker Miranda Kitts was named to the All-Tournament team after she averaged 1.22 blocks per set, tallied 23 kills and hit .360 for the event. Freshman Whitney Craven also came out of the gates firing with a double-double in the first match as she tallied 11 kills and 11 digs.
The Rebels have claimed two consecutive Magnolia Invitational titles and look to make it a third in 2009 as Ole Miss works to get back on track in the early part of the season and with the help of what has traditionally become a raucous home crowd at the Gillom Center.
"The athletes are always looking forward to playing for - and in front of - their home crowd," Getzin said. "We look forward to continuing the tradition of building larger crowds and greater support each year."
The Zips of Akron enter the 2009 Magnolia Invitational with an overall record of 3-1 on the year after opening the season at the Sycamore Invitational at Indiana State. The Zips defeated SIU-Edwardsville, Indiana State and UMKC with the sole loss coming at the hands of North Dakota.
Akron is led offensively by Brionna Patterson with 3.71 kills per set and is joined on the attack by Liz Martin with 3.06 kills per set. At the net, the Zips are led by Tina Dimitrijevs and Jackie Golman with 0.71 blocks per set each.
The back row defense is led by Megan Rdoriguez with 3.06 digs per set.
The Lady Braves of Alcorn State enter the 2009 edition of the Magnolia Invitational with an 0-1 record after falling to Southeastern Louisiana in their first match of the season.
The Lady Braves are led by Brittany Watts offensively while Clarissa Webb leads the defensive efforts at the net with three blocks against the Lions of Southeastern Louisiana.
Donna Kelly led the back row defense with 10 digs on the afternoon.
The UAB Blazers come into the Magnolia Invitational with an overall record of 2-1 on the young 2009 season after splitting a pair of matches with Alabama A&M and Auburn at Auburn on opening weekend. UAB then picked up a w in over Jacksonville State on Tuesday night to move to 2-1 to date.
Andrea Lalic leads UAB offensively with 2.60 kills per set, while Savannah Peg is right behind her with 2.57 kills per set. At the net, there is also a pair of Blazers getting the job done as Patty Paniagua and Michelle Uzoh average 1.45 and 1.20 blocks per set, respectively. Heather Thomas leads the back row with 3.73 digs per set.
The Panthers of UW-Milwaukee enter the Magnolia Invitational with an 0-2 record - marking the first time since the 1994 season the Panthers have opened the season with an 0-2 mark. UW-M dropped a pair of matches at No. 13 Iowa State on the opening weekend of play.
The Panthers are led by Jena Berg, an outside hitter/setter who transferred to UW-Milwaukee from Tennessee and is no stranger to the Rebels. Berg averages 2.11 kills per set through two matches. Maddie Sueppel is the lead blocker for the Panthers with 1.33 blocks per set, while defensively Lauren Felsing averages 5.33 digs per set.
