The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
20-7, 6-6
Arkansas
14-9, 4-7
Rebels Roast Razorbacks 3-1
11/6/2015 | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. - Paced by three players with double-doubles, the Ole Miss volleyball team roared past Arkansas 3-1 here Friday night in front of 811 fans at the Gillom Sports Center, to sweep the season series for the first time since 2009.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 20-7 overall and 6-6 in the SEC. They notched their second consecutive 20-win campaign and equaled the most wins (12) in school history.
Gillom was packed and into the match the entire time, and the Rebels fed off the energy in the building taking set one 25-20 and improving to 17-1 overall and 6-0 in the SEC when winning set one. Arkansas raced out to a 10-4 lead in set two, but the Rebels clawed their way back, trailing 13-14 midway through the set. The Razorbacks eventually gained several set points, leading 24-19. The Rebels went on a 5-0 run to tie it at 24 and the crowd went nuts. Arkansas gained a sixth set point, but the Rebels tied it up again at 25. The Razorbacks finally converted on their seventh set point for 27-25 to tie the match at 1.
Ole Miss came out of the break determined not to let Arkansas maintain any momentum from set two. The Rebels broke open a close set to go up 18-13. The Razorbacks never got any closer than as Ole Miss closed the set 25-19.
In the first meeting in Fayetteville, the match went five sets, but this time the Rebels weren't about to let that happen again. They jumped out to a 9-4 lead in set four and never looked back, winning it 25-21 to close out the 3-1 win.
Quick Hits
• Ole Miss has now posted 20 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since doing so three straight years from 1984-86.
• The Rebels improved to 17-1 overall and 6-0 in the SEC win winning set one. They also moved to 19-2 overall and 5-1 in SEC play when hitting above .200.
• Junior Aubrey Edie and sophomores Lexi Thompson and Kate Gibson posted double-doubles. Edie finished with 47 assists and a season-high 15 digs, one off her career-best. Thompson had 12 kills, 10 digs, 3 assists and one service ace. Gibson posted 11 kills and 16 digs.
• Freshman Kathryn Cather notched a career-high 14 kills and hit .462. She also finished with four blocks.
• Senior Ty Laporte also posted double-digit kills with 10 and hit .444. She added three blocks to the cause.
• Junior Kristen Brashear finished the night with 21 digs, as the Rebels totaled 68. Brashear has now posted double-digit digs in 11 of 12 SEC matches.
• Senior Nakeyta Clair added to her career-record blocking total with six on the night.
• Aubrey Edie is a Fayetteville native and head coach Steven McRoberts hails from North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Quoting Coach McRoberts
"First off, I want to say what a great crowd we had. That's the loudest I have heard the Gillom Center since I've been here. That really helped us a lot, gave us a lot of momentum. I am really proud of these young ladies and the way they prepared this week. We had a great mentality going into the match, and it showed."
Aubrey Edie on Sweeping the Season Series
"It's really awesome to get two wins against them this year, especially since it's the first time we've beaten them since I've been here. We played really well against them, it was a great team effort. Everybody was on their game tonight. The crowd was awesome! When we were down 24-19 in the second set and came back and tied it, they went insane. It's the loudest I've heard it in here, I couldn't hear myself talk."
Kristen Brashear on the Big Night
"We played really well and the crowd was unbelievable. That's as loud as I've ever heard it before. It really helped us with momentum, and especially when we made the comeback in set two it was crazy loud. It was a total team effort."
The Rebels are off Sunday and return to action next weekend hosting Texas A&M and LSU at the Gillom Sports Center.
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.
