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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
12-9, 1-7
Auburn
12-10, 6-3
Rebels Drop Five-Setter to Auburn on ESPNU
10/19/2016 | Volleyball
Final Stats | Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Miss. -- Wednesday night's Ole Miss volleyball match against Auburn on ESPNU was point for point, as the two teams battled in a five set match, where the Tigers came out on top (16-25, 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 13-15) at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Both sides were active early in the first set as the Rebels and Tigers offenses matched point for point. Junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson tallied six kills for the Rebels in the first nine points of the set, which contributed to her .389 hitting percentage in the first set. The Rebels used their first timeout of the match trailing 19-14 and couldn't respond dropping the first set to Auburn 25-16.
The second set mirrored the first as both teams battled point for point through the first half. Junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander contributed four kills to the Rebels offense causing Auburn to use their first timeout of the match at 19-16. Freshman setter Jordan Fate made her first conference appearance filling in to serve as the Rebels took the second set 25-19. The Rebels entered the break hitting .395, double of Auburn's .128 percent.
The Rebels retuned from the break fired up to separate the score by six, leading 8-2. The Tigers responded with tough serving and an aggressive block on the outside to close the gap to three points, 15-11. After several long rallies, one of which included over 50 touches, and consistent offensive production with 14 kills, Ole Miss topped Auburn in the third set 25-19.
The fourth set began in the Rebels favor as Auburn errored on the first serve and the Rebels went up 5-1. The Tigers responded offensively with 7 kills to tie the score at 12-12. Siding out at 60 percent, Auburn pushed to separate the score 21-15 forcing Ole Miss to call their second timeout. The Rebels responded with a kill from freshman outside hitter Emily Stroup, but failed to finish, dropping the fourth set 25-20. The Rebels entered the fifth set hitting .152 to Auburn's .205.
The Rebels came out leading the fifth set 3-1, but the Tigers responded to take the lead 7-5 forcing Ole Miss to call a timeout. Thompson posted her 23rd kill which also tied the set at 8-8. The set remained even at 11-11 as Auburn lost a challenge. The Tigers offense posted 10 kills for the fifth set to take the match 15-13 over the Rebels.
Ole Miss dropped the first set 25-16, but rallied back during the second to enter the break 1-1 behind a .395 hitting percentage. The Rebels returned out of the break with the pedal to the floor to defeat the Tigers 25-19, siding out at 73 percent. The Tigers took set four 25-20, which set up the final set.
Quick Hits
• The Rebels move to 12-9 overall and 1-7 in the SEC, while Auburn improved to 12-10, 6-3.
• The Rebels are now 5-3 for the season in five set matches.
• The Rebels defense broke the single match record for most digs with 105.
• In addition to recording her SEC leading 13th double-double and topping her career high in kills, junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson moved up to eighth all-time in kills at Ole Miss with 25, to bring her career total to 872.
• Sophomore Audrey Fischer made her first collegiate start at middle blocker.
• Senior Aubrey Edie tallied 53 assists, with 11 digs to record her seventh double-double of the season.
• Sophomore Caroline Adams made her second start at the libero position during conference play this season tallying a career-high 24 digs.
• Junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander tallied 14 kills on a .478 hitting percentage.
• Junior outside hitter Kate Gibson tallied a career-high 26 digs.
Quoting Head Coach Steven McRoberts
"We came out a little flat and Auburn came out with a lot of confidence. They've been winning a lot of matches, so I think they were more confident than we were. It showed at the beginning of the match and at the end of the match. We played well in the second and third sets and started off the fourth set playing pretty well. There was a stretch where I felt like we could have gone up five or six and we're only up one. That was a turning point, the fact that we had the opportunities and just didn't put the ball away. We created some life for Auburn. It felt a lot like the LSU match."
On moving on to the next match
"We have another tough match coming up Sunday against Alabama, and somewhere we have to find a group that can play and win. We're doing some things well individually, but as a team we're not playing well. We as a coaching staff have to figure out how to get this team to play better together as a team."
Up Next
The Rebels will welcome Alabama Sunday Oct. 23 at 1:30 p.m. to The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The match will be broadcast on SECN+ with Will Kollmeyer and Renata Heard on the call.
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.
