The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rifle Looks to Bounce Back Against Murray State
10/8/2021 | Rifle
Derting and Horvath Set to Make Season Debuts
MURRAY, Ky. – After dropping its season opener to now No. 1 West Virginia, Ole Miss rifle looks to bounce back on the road against Murray State on Sunday.
The Rebels currently rank eighth nationally in the most recent CRCA poll. Last week against the Mountaineers they turned in an aggregate score of 4683, backed by strong outings from returning All-American Martina Gratz and fifth-year senior Abby Buesseler. Senior Jillian Zakrzeski also shot a solid match, posting an 1170, just 1.8 points shy of her season average from last season. Freshman M'Leah Lambdin impressed in her debut, finishing with a mark of 1170, tied for the third-highest score on the team.
On Sunday, Ole Miss will be back to full strength with Kristen Derting and Lea Horvath returning to the team after spending the last week in Lima, Peru, competing at the ISSF Junior World Championship. Horvath won gold with her teammates from Hungary in the Women's 10m Air Rifle team event after finishing 32nd individually, and Derting, who was representing the Stars and Stripes for the first time, placed 14th out of nearly 50 competitors in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Position event.
While the Rebels didn't shoot against the Racers last season, they did face off against UT Martin in a neutral site match at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range. In the match, Ole Miss took down the NCAA smallbore team record by five points with a score of 2361, fueled by career-highs and a school-record score from Derting (594) and Horvath (593).
Murray State is also coming off a loss to West Virginia last weekend. The Racers dropped the match 4725-4674 despite Matias Kiuru leading the field with an 1185.
The first smallbore relay is set to begin at 9 a.m. CT. Fans can follow along on social media for live updates throughout the match.
For more information on Ole Miss rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle) and at OleMissSports.com.
Players Mentioned
