The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
21-10, 7-9
Missouri
25-4, 13-3
Rebels Honor Seniors in Last Home Match
11/22/2015 | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. - Seniors Nakeyta Clair, Ty Laporte and Laura Beaty have helped turn around the Ole Miss Volleyball program in the last two years, and Sunday the team honored them before the final home match against Missouri. Despite a strong start from the Rebels, the Tigers came out on top 3-1.
With the loss, the Rebels fall to 21-10 overall and 7-9 in the SEC with two more matches remaining at Alabama and at Mississippi State, to close out the season. Missouri improved to 25-4 and 13-3 in the SEC.
Ole Miss got off to a great start in the match, taking the opening set 25-18. Missouri is still in play for a conference championship with one week left in the regular season, and the Rebels knew they would need to create opportunities to have a chance to win. The Tigers regrouped in the second set and built a 6-1 lead early, forcing Ole Miss to call timeout. The Rebels pulled within two late, but Mizzou closed it out 25-20.
The Rebels had a chance to win the third set despite only having six kills, as Missouri hit just .015 themselves with 16 errors. Ole Miss led by three late, 19-16, and eventually held a set point at 24-23, but the Tigers won the final three points for 26-24 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Missouri maintained momentum in the fourth set, hitting .357 with only one error. Leading by just one, the Tigers broke open the set on a 6-0 run to lead 13-7. They never looked back going on to win the set 25-12 for the match.
Quick Hits
• Senior Ty Laporte finished with 11 kills and 5 blocks. She now needs 14 kills to reach 1,000 for career.
• Senior Nakeyta Clair posted eight kills and six blocks, one off her season-high of seven.
• Junior setter Aubrey Edie posted her team-leading 10th double-double of the year, with 32 assists and 18 digs. She also added four blocks, as the Rebels finished with 13 total blocks.
• Four players notched double-digit digs, including junior Kristen Brashear with a team-high 21. She has posted double-digits in 15 of 16 SEC matches. It also marked the sixth time overall and fifth time in SEC play for Brashear to have at least 20 digs. Brashear now has 936 career digs and needs 14 to move into fifth place all-time at Ole Miss.
Next up
The Rebels will face Alabama Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., and then travel to Starkville for the volleyball edition of the Egg Bowl Friday at 2 p.m.
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.
