Ole Miss Hosts Magnolia Invitational This Weekend

Sept. 8, 2010

OXFORD, Miss. - After two straight weekends on the road to open the season, the Ole Miss volleyball team returns home for its first matches of the season in the Gillom Center with the Magnolia Invitational this weekend.

Ole Miss (3-3) will play host to three teams in the weekend event that begins on Friday as Louisiana, Samford and in-state rival Southern Miss. The Rebels face Southern Miss at 7 p.m. on Friday night, and host Louisiana (1:30 p.m.) and Samford (7 p.m.) on Saturday.

The Rebels have won the Magnolia Invitational three consecutive seasons and look to extend that streak to four this weekend. Ole Miss hopes that playing at home in front of its fans in the newly renovated playing area at Gillom will go a long way towards achieving that goal.

"It's so awesome to finally get the Gillom Center done with the renovations and how we envisioned it when we got here," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "It's such a great venue to play in because of the closeness to our fan base. Ole Miss volleyball has always responded well to our fans and we look to continue to build on that. We just need a few more people to come out and continue that atmosphere this weekend."

The Rebels are led offensively by right side hitter Allegra Wells as the sophomore has put down 60 kills through six matches and is averaging a team-leading 2.73 kills per set in what has proven to be a balanced offense. Outside hitter Whitney Craven is second with 57 kills on the year, while middle blockers Regina Thomas and Miranda Kitts have put down 56 and 54 kills, respectively.

Defensively, the Rebels are led by junior libero Morgan Springer who has put down 112 digs on the year and averages 5.09 digs per set. She was named to the All-Tournament team at the Northwestern Challenge this past weekend for her efforts on the back row.

Setting the Rebel offense are senior Emily Kvitle and sophomore Amanda Philpot, who split time at the setter position. Philpot leads the team with a 6.14 assist per set average, while Kvitle is right behind her at almost five assists per set on the year.

"We're looking forward to some good competition this weekend," Getzin said. "You have Southern Miss coming in who won their conference last year and are a scrappy team and make you win every ball. Samford is also very similar to that and is a favorite in the Southern Conference. Louisiana is also coming into the weekend off to a good hot start.

"This point of the season is more about our side of the net and taking care of what we are doing in our system. That continues to get better every time we're out there, so we look forward to good results."

The Rebels' first opponent, Southern Miss, enters the weekend with an overall record of 4-3 and are coming off losses to Middle Tennessee, Miami and Auburn after a 4-0 start to the year. Louisiana holds a 7-1 mark and defeated Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night. The final opponent, Samford, is 5-3 to date after splitting matches last weekend with wins over Tennessee Tech and Northwestern State and losses to North Texas and Syracuse.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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