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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
15-13 (4-11SEC)
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Mississippi State
13-17 (5-11SEC)
Rebels Drop Heartbreaker on the Road at MSU
11/16/2016 | Volleyball
Final Stats | Box Score (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Ole Miss volleyball took a 2-0 lead against arch-rival Mississippi State Wednesday night in an SEC Network matchup, but the Bulldogs rallied to steal a 3-2 win (25-9, 25-18, 18-25, 17-25, 8-15) at the Newell Grissom Building.
Ole Miss raced out to a 2-0 lead in the match not allowing State to get in the first set and then finishing off the second set. The Bulldogs came out of the break and took the third and fourth sets by a combined 15 points to force the fifth set.
At 3-3 in the first set, the Rebels went on a 7-2 run to pull ahead by five, 10-5. The Rebels kept the pedal to the gas the rest of the way behind a .348 hitting percentage with 11 kills, to take the set 25-9. Freshman middle blocker Nayo Warnell and junior outside hitter Kate Gibson combined for nine of the 11 kills, with Warnell hitting .714 and Gibson .429. The Bulldogs hit just -.158 with 12 attack errors.
Set two started out back and forth until the Rebels went up by four, 12-8. The Bulldogs used a 4-2 run to tie it at 14-14, but the Rebels responded to go up 20-17 as State called their first timeout. Following the timeout, the Rebels increased their lead to 24-18 as the Bulldogs used their final timeout. Gibson and junior middle blocker Taylor Alexander combined for the block to hand the Rebels the set 25-18 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
State broke a 4-4 tie to go up 7-4 early in set three. The Rebels pulled to within one, 8-9, but the Bulldogs went on a 6-2 run to take a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Rebels won three straight to get within two, but MSU pushed the lead back out to five, 19-14, and the Rebels called their first timeout. The Rebels never got closer, as the Bulldogs wrapped up the set 25-18. State hit .364 and sided out at 73 percent in the set, while the Rebels sided out at 58 percent.
The Rebels led 4-2 to start set four, but the Bulldogs answered with two service aces by Riley Duzenack to take a 6-4 lead. The Rebels tied it up at 8-8, but the Bulldogs won four straight points to take a 12-8 lead forcing Ole Miss to call timeout. State increased its lead to 16-10 as the Rebels called their final timeout of the set. The Bulldogs went on to take the set 25-17 to force the final outcome. Ole Miss hit just .080 in set four and sided out at only 47 percent to State's 70 percent on .273 hitting.
With momentum squarely on their side, the Bulldogs got off to a five-point lead in the fifth set, 8-3, as the teams changed sides. The Rebels never got any closer, as State closed out the set 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Quick Hits
• The Rebels fall to 15-13 overall and 4-11 in the SEC. State won their third straight against the Rebels.
• The Rebels are now 5-5 in five-set matches and have lost the last five after winning the first five.
• The Rebels, who lead the league in digs per set in SEC matches, tallied 69 digs.
• Senior Aubrey Edie posted her 12th double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs.
• Lexi Thompson recorded her 18th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs. She has now totaled double-digit kills in 23 matches this season.
• Thompson inched closer to 1,000 kills now with 981. She needs 19 to join teammate Kate Gibson with that feat.
• Kate Gibson tallied 12 kills and 8 digs. She has now posted double-digit kills in all but three matches season and missed her 14th double-double by two digs.
• Freshman Emily Stroup tallied 7 kills on a .333 clip and added 6 digs and 2 blocks.
• Taylor Alexander posted a career-high 10 blocks and missed her first career double-double by one, with 9 kills. She now has 108 blocks, which ranks fifth best in a season. Alexander needs four to move to fourth.
• Freshman Nayo Warnell finished with 7 kills on a .538 clip. It marks the fifth straight set match for her to hit above .300.
• Caroline Adams tied her career high with 24 digs.
Up Next
Ole Miss will travel to Athens to face Georgia on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 1:30 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.
