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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
4-1
Virginia Tech
3-1
Volleyball Splits on First Day of A-State Invitational
9/1/2017 | Volleyball
Virginia Tech Box Score (PDF) | SMU Box Score (PDF)
JONESBORO, Ark. -- The Ole Miss volleyball team split a pair of matches on day one of the A-State Invitational hosted by Arkansas State at the Convocation Center Friday. The Rebels won 3-2 in the morning against Virginia Tech and then suffered a 3-1 loss to SMU in the afternoon match.
Ole Miss (4-1) started the day off strong with a five-set victory over Virginia Tech (25-16, 24-26, 18-25, 25-17, 15-3). This match featured several accolades for the Rebels as Ole Miss's 15-3 victory in the fifth set will go down in history as the fewest points allowed by Ole Miss in a fifth set during the rally era.
Additionally, Ole Miss notched a .579 hitting percentage in the fourth set against Tech as the highest percentage hit in a single set this season. Senior Lexi Thompson contributed to the victory by tallying 15 digs to join teammate Kate Gibson as a member of the 1,000/1,000 club.
Ole Miss then battled SMU (25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 21-25) in a handful of close sets, but fell to the Mustangs 3-1. The Rebels fell behind in the fourth, but worked their way back with energy off the bench from sophomore Audrey Fischer and redshirt-freshman Leah Mulkey. Sophomore Emily Stroup was able to find a victory in the match personally as she tallied 21 kills on a .391 clip, a new career-high.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss moved to 4-2 on the season.
- The Rebels now lead the all-time series against Virginia Tech 4-0.
- The Rebels are now tied with SMU in the all-time series 2-2.
- The Rebels 15-3 victory over Virginia Tech in the fifth set marks the fewest points allowed in a fifth set by Ole Miss in the rally era.
- Ole Miss's hitting percentage in the fourth set (.579) against VT marked the highest in a single set this season.
- Senior Lexi Thompson notched her 1,000th dig becoming the second member of the 1,000/1,000 club at Ole Miss in the rally scoring era. She joined her teammate Kate Gibson. Thompson also tallied her 38th double-double of her career and fourth of the season with 15 digs and 14 kills.
- Freshman Lauren Bars tallied her second double-double of the season with 27 assists and 11 digs in the win over Virginia Tech. Bars also set a career-high in aces with five.
- Senior Kate Gibson tallied her third double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs in the win over Virginia Tech.
- Stroup recorded a new career-high in kills with 21 in the match against SMU for a .391 hitting percentage.
- Sophomore Nayo Warnell and freshman Bayleigh Scott combined for 16 kills and 5 blocks on the day from the middle.
- Freshman Lauren Bars totaled 60 assists and sophomore Jordan Fate had 40 on the day.
Next upââ'¬¦
The Rebels will then conclude the A-State Invitational with a match against the host, Arkansas State, Saturday at 6:30 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.
