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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Host LSU, Arkansas To Open SEC Play This Weekend
9/14/2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Coming off a perfect weekend on the way to the Magnolia Invitational Championship, Ole Miss (4-4) continues to play at home this weekend, opening Southeastern Conference play against Western Division rivals LSU and Arkansas.
The Rebels face LSU (7-3) on Friday night at 7 p.m. and host Arkansas (8-3) at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. All matches are played at the Gillom Sports Center and admission is free.
Friday night's contest against LSU will feature a "Red Out" as the first 300 fans will receive complimentary t-shirts to wear during the match. Sunday's match against Arkansas will be "Sundaes on Sunday" and fans will receive free ice cream sundaes at the match.
It also marks the kick-off of the SEC's "Together We Can" Canned Food Drive. Fans are encouraged to bring canned goods to the event where they will be collected by current Ole Miss student-athletes to donate to the Oxford Food Pantry. Fans can also collect a commemorative poster featuring senior middle blocker Regina Thomas.
"It's always good to be home and we took care of business at our home tournament this past weekend," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "I think we're ready for the SEC with LSU and Arkansas coming in this weekend. The teams we've played in the early part of the season have prepared us for a good SEC schedule. Hopefully that sets us up well for this opening weekend."
Ole Miss is coming off a 3-0 weekend at the Magnolia Invitational last weekend where the squad claimed the tournament title with wins over UALR, Northwestern and Central Arkansas. Junior setter Amanda Philpot was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week for her performance at the tournament that also garnered Tournament MVP honors.
Philpot turned in a triple-double against Northwestern in the Friday night match with 10 kills, 33 assists and a career-high 20 doubles. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior libero Morgan Springer and junior right side hitter Allegra Wells.
Springer averaged 4.30 digs per set on the weekend and turned in a double-double with 16 assists and 19 digs against Northwestern. Wells put down 3.10 kills per set and averaged 1.10 blocks per set on the weekend to help lead the Rebels to the fifth consecutive Magnolia Invitational title.
LSU comes into the weekend picked as the preseason favorite to win the Western Division title in a poll of the league's coaches, but the Tigers are looking to rebound from a tough weekend at Western Kentucky's tournament. The Tigers defeated Wake Forest before falling to Xavier and host WKU to go 1-2 on the weekend.
Desiree Elliott and Madi Jones lead the LSU offense with 3.61 and 3.03 kills per set, respectively. Michelle Williams leads the net defense and averages 1.27 blocks per set to help the Tiger offense with her defensive prowess.
Arkansas enters the weekend after posting a perfect record at the West Point Challenge with wins over Army, Dartmouth and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Kelli Stipanovich leads the Lady `Back offense with 3.44 kills per set behind the setting of Raymariely Santos, who is averaging 9.97 assists per set this year. Jasmine Norton also continues to be an offensive threat for Arkansas with her 2.95 kills per set through the first three weekends of play.
