The University of Mississippi Athletics
Volleyball to Host Georgia
10/7/2015 | Volleyball
Complete Notes (PDF) | Watch: SECN+
OXFORD, Miss. - Last year in their only meeting, the Ole Miss volleyball team hit a school record .432 in shutting out Georgia 3-0 at the Gillom Sports Center. The two teams will meet again Friday at 6:30 p.m., to kick off homecoming weekend at Ole Miss.
Promotions
Friday is Viking Night - Discovering America before it was cool. The first 100 fans to Gillom will get free turkey legs.
What to Watch for
• With 2,995 assists in her career, junior setter Aubrey Edie needs just five assists in Friday's match to reach 3,000 for her career. Edie would become just the second Rebel player in the rally scoring era to reach 3,000 career assists.
• In the two team's only meeting last year, the Rebels it a school-record .432 with 53 kills, including three players in double-digits to down Georgia. Sophomore Lexi Thompson led everyone with 17 kills on a .429 clip. Senior Nakeyta Clair had 12 kills on a .611 percentage.
• Nakeyta Clair ranks second in the SEC in hitting percentage at .420 and Ty Laporte ranks sixth at .391. Clair also ranks 11th in points per set with 3.71. Kathryn Cather ranks second (0.44), Kristen Brashear ranks fifth (0.33) and Lexi Thompson is sixth (0.33) in service aces per set.
Scouting Georgia
Georgia comes into Friday's match at 5-9 overall and 0-2 in the SEC. They are the second team in three matches that the Rebels have faced, who is in search of their first league win. The Bulldogs rank 12th in the conference in hitting percentage at .183 and 12th in opponent hitting percentage at .218. In their most recent outing, Georgia took LSU to five before losing 15-9 in the fifth set. The Bulldogs are led by sophomore Amanda Dachs, who averages 2.98 kills per set, and junior Desiree McCray, who ranks fourth in the SEC with 1.19 blocks per set.
Rebels vs. Georgia
Georgia leads the all-time series 40-15, but the Rebels snapped a three-match losing streak in the series last year, shutting out the Bulldogs 3-0 in Oxford. Ole Miss hit a school-record .432 with 53 kills, including three players in double-digits to down Georgia.
In the National Rankings
In the latest NCAA Rankings, the Rebels rank 23rd in aces per set at 1.70. Senior middle blocker Nakeyta Clair ranks 18th in hitting percentage at .420, and Ty Laporte ranks 42nd at .391. Freshman Kathryn Cather ranks 38th in aces per set at 0.44.
Quoting Head Coach Steven McRoberts
"They haven't won yet but they are coming off of a five set loss to LSU. We better be prepared when Georgia gets in here Friday night. It's an opportunity for both teams. We need to be excited about playing everybody and trying to get another win in the league. Hopefully we can get a pretty good crowd. We had a pretty good crowd last Friday night, even though football was out of town."
For more information on Ole Miss Volleyball, follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissVB, on Facebook at OleMissVolleyball and on Instagram at OleMissVB. Also follow Coach McRoberts on Twitter, @CoachMcRoberts.
