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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
1-1
North Dakota
2-0
Long Day Gets the Best of Ole Miss Volleyball
8/25/2017 | Volleyball
Box Score | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
North Dakota Box Score | Louisiana Tech Box Score | Photo Gallery
OXFORD, Miss. -- It was a long day Friday for the Ole Miss volleyball team, with five hours on the court between two five setters against Louisiana Tech and North Dakota. The Rebels split, defeating the Lady Techsters 3-2 and falling to the Fighting Hawks 3-2 at the newly-renovated Gillom Sports Center.
In the nightcap, Ole Miss grabbed a 2-0 lead and had five match points -- three in the fourth and two in the fifth -- but North Dakota saved all five to win it 17-15 in the fifth set. The Rebels led 2-0 after winning the first set 25-16 and the second 25-20. North Dakota answered in the third 25-14. North Dakota led most of the way in the fourth set, until consecutive kills from Caitlin Wernentin tied it up at 22. She later got another kill to hand the Rebels their first match point, 24-23. The Rebels would gain two more match points at 27-26 and 28-27, but the Fighting Hawks won the final three points to take the set 30-28 and force a fifth set.
Set five went back and forth with neither side holding more than a two-point lead. The Rebels gained another match point, 14-12, on a kill by Lexi Thompson. North Dakota erased both match points and a 5-1 run closed out the Rebels 17-15 and the match 3-2.
North Dakota Quick Hits
• Sophomore Emily Stroup notched a career-high 15 kills on a .258 attack percentage and added nine digs.
• Junior Caroline Adams posted a career-best 31 digs, third best all-time for a five-set match at Ole Miss.
• Junior Caitlin Wernentin had a solid day, finishing with 13 kills on a .333 clip against North Dakota.
• Senior Kate Gibson notched her 1,000th dig and became the first member of the 1,000/1,000 club at
Ole Miss in the rally scoring era.
• Gibson posted a double-double of 17 kills and 20 digs.
• Lexi Thompson posted her 36th career double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs vs. North Dakota.
• Freshman Lauren Bars dished out 36 assists, while running a 6-2 offense. North Dakota's setter posted 40 in a 5-1 offense.
The first match of the day proved to be a nail biter as well. The Rebels won the first set 25-19, but Louisiana Tech took the second 25-21 and tight third 25-23 to go up 2-1. With the fourth set tied 4-4 early, the Rebels closed out the Lady Techsters with a 21-12 run to take it 25-16 and send it to a fifth set. In the fifth set, the Rebels got out to a 5-1 lead, before LA Tech used an 8-3 run to take their first lead 9-8. The Rebels broke open a 10-10 tie with a 5-0 run, including three straight kills from sophomore Emily Stroup, to finish off the 3-2 win.
Louisiana Tech Quick Hits
• Kate Gibson finished with a double-double of 16 kills to go with a career-tying 26 digs.
• Lexi Thompson posted a double-double of 13 kills and 19 digs.
• Freshman Lauren Bars totaled 32 assists against Louisiana Tech in her debut.
• Junior transfer Caitlin Wernentin had a solid debut for the Rebels, finishing with 10 kills on a .222 attack percentage against Louisiana Tech.
• Sophomore Nayo Warnell chipped in six kills on a .545 clip and added three blocks.
Next up...
Ole Miss returns to action in the Rebel Invitational Saturday at 1 p.m. against Chattanooga.
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.
