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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
12-3, 1-3SEC
Florida
10-5, 4-1SEC
Ole Miss Drops Series Finale at Florida
10/3/2021 | Volleyball
Anna Bair Leads Rebels with 10 Kills
GAINESVILLE, Fla.— In the series finale at No. 22 Florida, Ole Miss (12-3, 1-3 SEC) was unable to get past the strong defensive showing from the Gators (10-5, 3-1 SEC), falling in three straight sets Sunday at Exactech Arena.
Offensively, Anna Bair led the Rebels with 10 kills to extend her double-digit kill streak to seven matches. Kylee McLaughlin fed her hitters a total of 23 assists, while Sam Burgio accounted for eight digs.
The duo of Bair and Brgoch got the Rebels going in the first set with two early kills each as Ole Miss trailed Florida 6-4. Ole Miss pulled within one before Florida took off on a 3-0 run to go up by four at 9-5. For the second day in a row, the Rebels struggled to contain the Florida attack, with the Gators leading by as many as eight in the set. The Rebs cut the deficit to four at 20-16 but were unable to complete the comeback as UF took set one, 25-17.
Both teams traded points back-and-forth to start the second set, although a 7-0 run propelled the Gators to take a 9-3 lead before a kill from Dyess halted the run. Another Florida run allowed them to grow their lead by eight at 15-7. Ole Miss continued to chip away yet had a difficult time getting balls through the Gator defense. UF racked up 10 blocks through two to run away with set two, 25-13.
Fischer served up the Rebels' first ace of the day to start set three, as Ole Miss built a 6-3 lead early. A 4-1 Gator run tied up the set at seven all, as the Rebels fought to stay in the match. With the set tied at 17, Florida retook the lead on a pair of Ole Miss attacking errors. Despite Rebel efforts, UF ended the day on a 9-0 run to win the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
Ole Miss returns home to the Gillom Center for a mid-week matchup against Arkansas on Wednesday in the third week of SEC play. The match against the Razorbacks will stream on SEC Network + at 6 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.
