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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Set To Host Magnolia Invitational This Weekend
9/7/2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 7, 2011
Magnolia Invitational Tournament Central
OXFORD, Miss. - After spending the first two weeks of the 2011 season on the road, the Ole Miss volleyball team returns home to play the first matches of the season at the Gillom Sports Center when the Rebels host the Magnolia Invitational this weekend.
The Rebels played the first two weekends at the Burnt Orange Classic, hosted by then fourth-ranked Texas, and competed this past weekend at the Crowne Plaza Cardinal Classic at the University of Louisville.
This weekend, Ole Miss welcomes Northwestern, Central Arkansas and UALR to town for the two-day event that begins on Friday when Northwestern and Central Arkansas face off at 11 a.m. The Rebels take the court for the first time at home this season against UALR at 1:30 p.m. and close out the first day's action at 7 p.m. against the Northwestern Wildcats.
All matches are played at the Gillom Sports Center on campus at Ole Miss and admission is free for all contests.
"We play at home for the first time this weekend and it's a great opportunity for our fans to come out and see us in action," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "We've been very aggressive in our preseason scheduling and that will pay benefits for us long term. We're seeing Regina Thomas return to form from her All-America season last year after her ACL injury and our senior liber, Morgan Springer, is one of the tops in the Southeastern Conference with the way she's been playing this season."
Thomas leads the Rebels with a .380 hitting percentage on the season and earned All-Tournament honors this past weekend at the Cardinal Classic. There she hit .434 for the weekend with 28 kills and 12 blocks to help lead the team. Springer leads the team defensively with almost five digs per set through the first two weekends of play and has been a defensive stalwart for Ole Miss throughout her career.
UALR enters the weekend with an overall record of 3-4 and are coming off a 1-2 performance this past weekend in a tournament at New Mexico State University. There the Trojans fell to LSU and New Mexico State University before downing Grambling State to end the weekend.
UALR is led offensively by Edina Begic and Paige Gantar. Begic leads the squad with 3.77 kills per set from the outside hitter position, while Gantar is right on her heels with 3.00 kills per set as a middle blocker. Also providing offense through defense for the Trojans is outside hitter Kristi Block. Block is putting down 1.17 blocks per set heading into this weekend's tournament.
Northwestern comes into the Magnolia Invitational with a perfect mark of 5-0 on the year and is coming off a sweep of the Chicago Challenge Crown where the Wildcats defeated UIC and Loyola University - Chicago over the weekend.
The Wildcats are paced by the hot hand of outside hitter Stephanie Holthos who is putting down 5.27 kills per set and hitting at an almost .300 clip on the season. Setting the offense for Northwestern is Madalyn Shalter, who is averaging an impressive 12.13 assists per set to date. Also coming up big for the Wildcats is middle blocker Katie Dutchman who is averaging 1.27 blocks per set.
The Rebels will close out the weekend with a single match on Saturday prior to the football game against Southern Illinois. Ole Miss will take the court at 1 p.m. to face Central Arkansas in the tournament finale.
Central Arkansas enters the weekend with an overall record of 1-5 and is coming off a winless weekend at a tournament at Texas Tech this past weekend. The Sugar Bears fell to the Red Raiders, UNLV and Morehead State in the weekend tournament in Texas.
Leading the way for Central Arkansas is outside hitter Jessica Hays who is putting down 3.33 kills per set on the season. The primary setter for the Sugar Bear offense is Marissa Collins who is averaging 8.43 assists per set to date. Leading the back row defense for Central Arkansas is Cristin Curl with 3.76 digs per set, while Hays is also coming up with almost two digs per set to help her squad defensively.
