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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Volleyball Looking to #FIN1SH in 2016
8/17/2016 | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. - On a board in Tad Smith Coliseum, where the Ole Miss volleyball team has been practicing in preparation for the 2016 season, are the words FIN1SH - Future is Now! One Team, One Goal.
After coming close to making the NCAA Tournament the first two years under head coach Steven McRoberts, the Rebels are hoping to not only put themselves in position for a berth late in the season, but to FIN1SH.
Nine players who saw action last year return including four starters. Leading the list of returning players is senior setter Aubrey Edie, who heads into the season needing just 275 assists to become the career record holder.
As the lone senior, Edie will rely on juniors Taylor Alexander, Kate Gibson and Lexi Thompson to provide additional leadership. The remaining 12 players are freshmen and sophomores. Several sophomores saw action in 2015 including right side Kathryn Cather, who made the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Competition in preseason practice has been fierce with the addition of the freshmen, several of whom boast state championships and All-America and All-State honors on their resumes.
Wednesday, the SEC announced the preseason SEC Coaches' Poll and the preseason All-SEC Team. The league's coaches picked Ole Miss to finish 12th, but in McRoberts' first two years, the Rebels were picked 10th and eighth, respectively, and finished in the top half in the final standings.
"There are a lot of good teams in this conference, but the preseason poll the last two years has been wrong about us," McRoberts said. "We have finished higher than where the other coaches voted us. I get to see the work and effort that our team puts in every day and I feel really good about us. We are going to keep putting our effort and energy into things that we can control and right now that is every day in practice. In nine days, we will be putting all of our focus on UC Davis. We have over a month before we need to worry about SEC play."
The Rebels open the season Aug. 26 against UC Davis at the North Dakota Tournament.
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.
