The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
4-4
Central Arkansas
3-6
Rebels Claim Magnolia Invitational For Fifth Straight Year
9/10/2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - For the fifth straight season, the Rebels claimed the Magnolia Invitational as Ole Miss (4-4) defeated Central Arkansas (3-6) by a score of 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-13) on Saturday at the Gillom Sports Center.
The Rebels defeated UALR, Northwestern and Central Arkansas on the way to the tournament title.
Amanda Philpot claimed tournament MVP honors after posting a triple-double on Friday night to down Northwestern and hitting .325 for the weekend while setting the Rebel offense. Also joining her on the All-Tournament team were Allegra Wells and Morgan Springer.
Wells put down 10 kills and hit .412 against the Sugar Bears in the championship match on Saturday, while senior middle blocker Regina Thomas hit .409 and put down a match-high 11 kills to go along with five blocks in the match.
Philpot again was big in the gameplan, putting down seven kills with seven digs and 32 assists.
"It's always good to be home," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "We did some good things against a Central Arkansas team that gave everyone fits this weekend. Our athleticism really helped out and we did a better job of limiting our mistakes.
"Amanda (Philpot) really is maturing as a setter," Getzin continued. "She's a threat and really understanding what it is we want her to do in our system. It makes it tougher on the other team when they have to make adjustments for her."
It was a tight contest early as Central Arkansas broke a pattern of trading scores on an attack error by the Rebels to go up 7-6. The Sugar Bears extended the lead from there, pushing the Rebels into two timeouts as the lead grew to 20-14 and the home team fought to regroup.
Coming out of the second break in action, the Rebels made a move and cut the lead to two at 20-18 and sent Central Arkansas into a timeout. It did little to slow the Ole Miss attack as the Rebels pushed on to reclaim the lead and take the first set 25-22.
Ole Miss found itself in another pitched battle in set two as the squads again traded scores early. The Rebels would push out into the lead several times, only to see the advantage erased by a run from the Sugar Bears.
Kara Morgan put down a kill to snap a 15-15 tie and give the Rebels the lead for good, though, as Ole Miss would go on to claim the second set 25-19 and pull away from the visitors from Central Arkansas.
It was all Ole Miss in the third set with the home team pushing out to a 14-2 lead that would prove to be too much for the visitors from the west. Central Arkansas would get no closer than nine points in the final frame as Ole Miss claimed the set and the tournament title with a 25-13 win in the final frame.
The Rebels return to action at home next weekend when Ole Miss will jump into conference play with a contest against LSU on Friday night. The match is set for a 7 p.m. start and will be played at the Gillom Sports Center. Admission is free to the public.
