The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Auburn
Thompson Leads Rebels Past Auburn
10/17/2014 | Volleyball
AUBURN, Ala. - Led by a career-high 23 kills from freshman Lexi Thompson, the Ole Miss Volleyball team earned a 3-1 win at Auburn here Friday night at the Auburn Arena. It marked the Rebels first SEC road win of the season as they improved to 17-3 overall and 3-3 in league play.
"We are really proud of the ladies, this was big for us to get that monkey off our backs and get our first SEC road win of the season," head coach Steven McRoberts said.
The Rebels took an early 7-4 lead in the first set, but the Tigers answered after a timeout to tie it up at 8. Ole Miss regained the lead 18-15, but Auburn would hang around the rest of the way. At 23-23, a service error from Auburn's Courtney Crable and then a kill by Melanie Crow secured the first set for the Rebels, 25-23.
Auburn got off to a 6-2 start in the second set, and never let up increasing their lead to eight at one point. They closed out the Rebels 25-15 to square the match.
Ole Miss came out after the break and took it to Auburn to go up 15-7, as the Tigers had to use their final timeout. The Rebels led 24-15, but the Tigers would not go away. They pulled to within six before Nakeyta Clair's 11th of 13 kills on the night won it 25-18 to give the Rebels a 2-1 lead in the match.
Both teams came out battling in the fourth set, with Ole Miss wanting to close it out and Auburn looking to force a fifth set. At 17-17, the Rebels went on an 8-2 run to finish off the Tigers 25-19.
Thompson hit .288 to go with her career night in kills and added nine digs. Senior Cara Fisher led the defense with a career-best 23 digs. Clair hit .333, and tallied four blocks to go with her 13 kills. Fellow junior Ty Laporte pitched in eight kills on a .368 clip, and sophomore Aubrey Edie passed out 48 assists.
The Rebels will travel to Tuscaloosa Sunday to face Alabama at 1 p.m. on the SEC Network+.
For more information on Ole Miss Volleyball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB, on Facebook at OleMissVolleyball and on Instagram at OleMissVB.
| Ole Miss (17-3, 3-3) | 25 | 15 | 25 | 25 |
| Auburn (9-11, 1-6) | 23 | 25 | 18 | 19 |
