The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
20-9, 6-9
Florida
22-3, 16-0
Ole Miss Gives No. 6 Florida Tough Battle
11/21/2014 | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss volleyball team faced two match points in the third set against No. 6 Florida and rallied to win it before the Gators finished off the match in the fourth set for a 3-1 win (22-25, 23-25, 26-24, 11-25) here Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center.
After missing both last weekends' matches due to illness, junior middle blocker Nakeyta Clair set the single season kills record in the rally scoring era, with nine kills on the night to bring her season total to 327.
Florida broke open a 7-7 tie in the first set, with a 7-2 run to take a 14-9 lead, forcing Ole Miss to call timeout. The Gators held four set points at 24-20, but the Rebels won two straight points, before Florida was able to win it 25-22.
Similar to the opening set, the Rebels trailed most of the way, including 23-16, but they rallied yet again. Florida held five set points at 24-19, but the Rebels won four straight, including a couple of aces by senior Cara Fisher and a huge kill from Melanie Crow. Florida's Alex Holston put down one of her 18 kills to give the Gators the set 25-23 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three was a highly competitive one with each team going back and forth. Florida broke a 20-20 tie and held a 23-20 lead, but the Rebels won two straight, including a double block from Crow and Clair to get within one. An attack error gave Florida its first match point at 24-23, but Clair stepped up as she's done all year, with consecutive kills to tie it at 24. Freshman Lexi Thompson came up with two of her 12 kills to hand the Rebels the set 26-24 and force Florida to a fourth set for only the fourth time in SEC play.
Unfortunately, the Rebels weren't able to carry the momentum over to the fourth set, falling 25-11, as the Gators clinched the outright SEC Championship.
"The first three sets, we really played well," head coach Steven McRoberts said. "Even they though they made runs on us, we would turn around and make runs on them to get back into it. We didn't panic when they got into the 20s and that gave us confidence for us to be able to win set three. I am just really proud of the effort the team put forth, because we talked about going into, just getting better, and I thought we did that."
The Rebels continue their four-match homestand Sunday with Alabama at 1:30 p.m. It's Sundaes on Sunday, as all fans will enjoy free ice cream.
For more information on Ole Miss Volleyball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB, on Facebook at OleMissVolleyball and on Instagram at OleMissVB.
| Florida (22-3, 16-0) | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 |
| Ole Miss (20-9, 6-9) | 22 | 23 | 26 | 11 |
