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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
13-5,2-5SEC
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Mississippi State
14-5,5-2SEC
Volleyball Falls in a Five Set Heartbreaker
10/17/2021 | Volleyball
Fischer Racks up a Career-High 20 Digs
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss was unable to fend off a Bulldog comeback, falling 3-2 in the in-state showdown between the Rebels and Mississippi State at the Gillom Center on Sunday.
Ole Miss (13-5, 2-5 SEC) came out strong to pick up the first two sets until MSU (14-5, 5-2 SEC) battled to pull of the reverse sweep. At the net, Aubrey Sultemeier racked up a season-high eight blocks and 12 kills. Anna Bair finished with 14 kills, extended her career-high double-digit kill streak to nine matches. In her third match in the libero jersey, Riley Fischer totaled a career-high 20 digs, while Kylee McLaughlin dished out 39 assists to her hitters as Ole Miss hit for .222 as a squad.
Ole Miss came out competitive in the first set, yet gave up multiple 3-0 runs to the Bulldogs to find themselves in a hole early, trailing 10-6. Led behind the service line by Ratliff, the Rebels pieced together a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the set at 11-10. A Bulldog kill tied the set up at 11 all and remained tied through 18, as MSU recorded back-to-back kills to take a 20-18 lead. The Rebels halted two straight set points to tie the set once again at 24. After giving up a point to MSU, Ole Miss stopped another set point to tie at 25. It was all Sultemeier the rest of the set, as a kill and a block from the senior gave Ole Miss the set win 27-25.
Ole Miss jumped out to a 6-4 lead to start the second set off on a 4-0 Rebel run, highlighted by a Samantha Schnitta ace. MSU fought its way back to meet up with the Rebels and tie the set at eight all. With the set tied through 10, Ole Miss utilized a 3-0 run to take back the lead at 13-10. The Rebels continued to strengthen their hold, going up by as many as eight at 22-14. It was all Ole Miss the remainder of the set as they controlled it from start to finish to take it 25-16 and go up 2-0 in the match.
The Rebels continued its momentum from the first two sets into the third to build an early 5-1 lead, yet the Bulldogs fought to remain in the set to eventually pull within one, trailing 5-4. Ole Miss continued to put in work on the outside to go up 9-6, until a 3-0 MSU run tied things up at nine. After trailing by two at 13-11, a 3-0 Rebel run put them back in the lead at 14-13. Finding themselves trailing again in the set at 17-15, a 4-0 scoring run spark gave the Rebels a 19-17 lead. MSU would not back down, though, tying up the set once more at 21 all. Ole Miss worked its way to a 24-22 lead, yet MSU stopped two straight set points to tie at 24. Both teams refused to give up the fight, with the set extending beyond 25 to remain tied until 28. Two-straight kills on the outside from Mississippi State gave them their first set victory 30-28 to avoid the sweep and force a set four.
Mississippi State rode high into the fourth set to take a 4-3 lead, before three straight Ole Miss points shut them down as the Rebels took a 6-4 lead. The Rebels pieced together multiple runs to strengthen its lead to go up by five at 13-8. Mississippi State cut the deficit to two, trailing 20-18 until two straight MSU points tied up the set at 20. The Bulldogs continued on a 7-0 run to lead 23-20 and force a fifth set 25-21.
A 3-0 Bulldog run early in the fifth set propelled them to take a 5-2 lead as the Rebel offense worked to get going. Ole Miss cut the deficit to three off a Sasha Ratliff ace at 8-5, yet were unable to make the comeback, falling in the set 15-10 and in the match, 3-2.
The Rebels head back out on the road for a two-match series at Missouri this Thursday and Friday (October 22-23). Both matches against the Tigers will air on SEC Network + at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB, Facebook at Ole Miss Volleyball, and on Instagram at @olemissvb. You can also follow head coach Kayla Banwarth on Twitter @KaylaBanwarth2.
