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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Hang Tough in Road Loss at Missouri
9/25/2016 | Volleyball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Despite a valiant effort in their Southeastern Conference road opener, the Ole Miss volleyball team succumbed to an experienced Missouri team, who came up with the goods on the big points to come away with a tight 3-0 win (25-23, 25-22, 26-24) at the Hearnes Center here Sunday.
Once again, the Rebels struggled to get their middles involved, so they looked to the pin hitters to get it going. Junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson and right side Kathryn Cather kept the Rebels in it.
At 4-4 in set one, Missouri won four straight points to pull ahead 8-4. The Rebels kept battling on a .321 hitting percentage and evened it up at 19-19. Up 21-20, a couple of kills by Mizzou and an attack error by the Rebels allowed the Tigers to regain the lead, 23-21. After Ole Miss pulled to within 23-22 on a kill from Cather, a service error handed Mizzou its first set point, 24-23. The Tigers finished it off 25-23 to take the early 1-0 lead in the match.
Ole Miss came out strong to start set two running out to an 8-4 lead with some big kills from Lexi Thompson, forcing Mizzou to call timeout. The Rebels led 15-11 midway through the set, but Mizzou would go on a 4-0 run to tie it at 15. From there, the two teams traded points. With the Rebels leading 20-19, Mizzou won four of the next five points, including two service errors and an attack error by Ole Miss, to take a 23-21 lead. Kate Gibson stopped the bleeding with a big kill, but Missouri notched consecutive kills to close out the set 25-22 and take a 2-0 lead overall.
Seeking to extend the match, the Rebels came out in the third set and gained another lead, 14-11. They later lead 18-14, but Mizzou used a 6-3 run to pull within one, 21-20. At 23-21, Mizzou's Carly Kan put down her 11th kill of the match and then an attack error by the Rebels tied it at 23. Gibson stepped up and put away the ball to give the Rebels set point, 24-23, but Mizzou finished off the match with three straight kills for 26-24 to remain undefeated against the Rebels at the Hearnes Center (7-0).
Quick hits
• The Rebels are now 11-4 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.
• Junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson posted 14 kills on a .414 clip to lead the Rebels. She also added 8 digs and 2 service aces.
• Sophomore right side Kathryn Cather had another strong outing, hitting above .400 for the second straight match, with 13 kills on a .550 percentage.
• Junior outside hitter Kate Gibson added 12 kills.
• Senior setter Aubrey Edie posted 40 assists.
Quoting Head Coach Steven McRoberts
"We played really well from 0 to 20 in every set. After 20, we just made too many mistakes. Kat and Lexi both had a great match. There are a lot of positives we can take from this weekend. We are disappointed that we are 0-2 but we will definitely learn from this as we move forward."
Up next
The Rebels return home for three straight matches, beginning with Arkansas Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. 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.
