The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Travel to No. 9 Florida
10/27/2016 | Volleyball
Complete Notes (PDF) | Live Stats | Watch (SECN+)
OXFORD, Miss. -- After earning a much-needed win at home against Alabama last Sunday, the Ole Miss volleyball team hits the road again to face No. 9 Florida Friday at 6 p.m. CT at the Lemerand Athletic Center.
The Rebels snapped a five-match losing streak in SEC play topping Alabama 3-1 last Sunday at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The win marked the Rebels' fourth straight against the Crimson Tide.
Friday's match at Florida marks the first of three straight road matches for the Rebels, who only play once this week before playing twice the next two weekends.
Quick Hits
• The Rebels posted their highest hitting percentage in conference play with .293 against Alabama.
• Junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson posted her 14th double-double of the season with 20 kills and 11 digs. She hit .333. It marked the 17th match this year for Thompson to finish with double-digit kills.
• Junior outside hitter Kate Gibson recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs.
• Freshman Emily Stroup finished with a career-high 9 kills on a .500 clip.
• Junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander finished the match with 9 kills on a .389 clip and 3 blocks.
• Senior Aubrey Edie passed out 45 assists and added 5 kills, 7 digs and 2 blocks.
• Lexi Thompson is making her way up the Ole Miss charts. With 892 kills she ranks seventh all-time and needs 36 to move to sixth. Thompson ranks ninth at Ole Miss in digs currently with 814. She needs 11 to move up to eighth.
• With 313 kills this season, Kate Gibson needs 54 to set the single season record. Lexi Thompson is hot on her heels with 299 kills.
• Aubrey Edie recorded her 4,000th career assist in the win over Tennessee State and now has a school-record 4,464. She ranks sixth in the SEC with 10.49 assists per set. Edie is also fourth in the NCAA in active career assists.
• Kathryn Cather ranks eighth in the SEC with a .358 hitting percentage and second in SEC matches only at .457. She is also averaging 3.55 kills (seventh) and 3.95 points per set (10th) in SEC matches.
• Taylor Alexander ranks ninth in the SEC with a .355 attack percentage.
• Kate Gibson ranks ninth in the SEC overall with 3.52 kills per set and 10th in points per set at 3.85. Lexi Thompson ranks 10th in kills per set (3.36), 11th in points per set (3.80) and leads the SEC in double-doubles with 14. Gibson ranks third with 10 double-doubles.
Scouting Florida
Florida enters Friday's match ranked No. 9 at 18-2 overall and 8-1 in the SEC. The Gators are coming off sweeps of Mississippi State and Georgia last weekend. Their lone loss in the SEC came at home against Kentucky. The Gators boast a a balanced offensive attack, hitting .331 as a team, paced by two hitters among the top three in the SEC. Freshman middle blocker Rachael Kramer leads the team in hitting percentage and ranks first in the SEC at .489, while junior middle hitter Rhamat Alhassan is third at .417 and ranks second in the league with 1.46 blocks per set. Outside hitter Carli Snyder averages 3.72 kills per set on a .293 clip.
Rebels vs. Gators
Florida leads the all-time series 42-6. The Rebels last win (3-2) in the series came in 1989 in Oxford. This will be the second of two meetings this year against the Gators. Florida won the earlier meeting back on Sept. 23 in Oxford 3-1.
Quoting Head Coach Steven McRoberts
"Florida playing as good as anybody, not only in our conference but in the nation, so it's going to be a tough test. We look to build on the win over Alabama and keep that confidence going. It's going to be a tough task to do that against Florida. We played them well here, and we'll go in and do our best this weekend."
Follow the match
Ole Miss and Florida can be seen on SEC Network+ via the WatchESPN app or WatchESPN.com. Also follow @OleMissVB on Twitter for updates.
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.
