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The University of Mississippi Athletics
LSU Comes Back to Steal Win from Rebels
10/5/2016 | Volleyball
Box Score (PDF)
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss volleyball team took a 2-0 lead against LSU on Military Appreciation Night Wednesday at The Pavilion at Ole Miss, but the Tigers came out of the break and rallied for a 3-2 win (12-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-13).
After rallying to force the fifth set, the Rebels and Tigers went back and forth to 7-7. Ole Miss adjusted their defense on LSU's outside hitter Gina Tillis and switched sides leading 8-7. The Rebels used a 5-2 run to go up 12-9 after an ace by Aubrey Edie. LSU's Sydney Mukes notched her 11th kill of the night and then consecutive attack errors from the Rebels tied it again at 12. Ole Miss went ahead 13-12 on Kate Gibson's match-high 22nd kill, but LSU answered again and then two untimely attack errors by the Rebels gave LSU the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
As a team, the Rebels started off strong hitting .414 combined in the first two sets to LSU's .063, but in the end finished hitting .199.
Despite being out of system the majority of the time in the first set, the Rebels took a six-point lead early. Gibson contributed three back-row kills and Caroline Adams played strong defense to force the Tigers to call their first timeout of the match at 17-10. A block from Taylor Alexander closed out the first set 25-12. The Rebels sided out at 92 perecent on a .317 hitting percentage with 22 digs.
The second set began with a run of errors from both the Rebels and the Tigers. Ole Miss hit the gas pedal on offense to take a six-point lead (17-11) forcing a Tiger timeout. The Rebels continued to produce big numbers, siding out at 88 percent and hitting .525 to take the second set 25-18.
The Rebels and Tigers went point for point in the third set, both teams highly relying on their outside hitters. Ole Miss used their first timeout of the match with LSU leading 12-9. With the addition of two blocks from freshmen, Nayo Warnell and Emily Engelken, the Rebels pulled within three (16-19). The LSU offense rebounded with 12 total kills to take set three 25-19, but the Rebels headed into the fourth set up 2-1.
In the fourth set, the Rebels started off with consecutive attack errors, but fought back to tie the set at 8-8. Gibson reached her ninth double-double of the season as Ole Miss worked to keep the score close. The Tiger offense kept the pressure on the Rebels right back defense as they went up by three, 20-17. LSU closed the set on a 12-5 run to take it 25-18 and force the fifth.
Quick Hits
• The Rebels moved to 12-5 overall and 1-3 in the SEC, while LSU improved to 16-10, 1-5.
• This marked the fifth time this season Ole Miss has had three players with double-doubles in a single match.
• Freshman right side Emily Engelken got her first start of the season.
• Senior Aubrey Edie tallied 49 assists, with 19 digs to mark her sixth double-double of the season.
• Freshman middle blocker Nayo Warnell topped her career high with 8 kills, hitting .636.
• Junior outside hitter Kate Gibson tallied her ninth double-double of the season with 22 kills and 15 digs.
• Junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander tallied 13 kills on a .385 hitting percentage.
• Junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson posted her 11th double-double of the year with 14 kills and 17 digs.
• Freshman libero Nicole Purcell tallied 19 digs and was assisted by defensive sophomore specialist Caroline Adams with 11 digs.
Quoting Coach Steven McRoberts
"We played so well in the beginning. We came out and put together two of our better sets this season with low errors, great attack percentage and making them pay. Those opportunities were still there in sets three, four and five, but we could not put the ball away. We just have to get back to work and try and figure out why we have these ebbs and flows in matches, where everything seems to be going great and then all of a sudden we can't get any momentum."
Quoting Junior Outside Hitter Lexi Thompson
"We are going to move forward looking at every team the same the rest of the season. We came into the match knowing that LSU had not won a conference match and thought that would make a difference, but from here on out our mindset will be different."
Up Next
The Rebels will welcome Texas A&M Sunday Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. to conclude the homestand. The match will be televised on the SEC Network.
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.
