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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Volleyball Takes Care Of South Carolina In Four Sets
11/5/2022 | Volleyball
Rebels Hit .306 Offensively in Win
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Samantha Schnitta provided the spark of the bench with a career-high 15 kills on a blistering .591 clip as Ole Miss took care of business on the road, downing South Carolina 3-1 Saturday afternoon inside the Carolina Volleyball Center.
The Rebels (11-11, 7-5 SEC) had a strong offensive day, hitting .306 as a team. Setter Aly Borellis navigated the offense with a career-high 54 assists and recorded her third straight match with 50-plus assists. She spread the ball nicely between Sasha Ratliff, Anna Bair and Schnitta. Ratliff slammed down 16 kills, and Schnitta added 15 on just 22 swings. Bair rounded out the trio with 15 on an efficient .382 hitting percentage.
After dropping a few early points, Ole Miss settled into a tight first set. Ratliff gave the Rebels a one-point advantage heading into the media timeout and sparked a little 3-0 run to put Ole Miss up four. A late 5-1 run by the Gamecocks tied the score up at 21 before Payton Brgoch silenced the gym with a kill, and the Rebels scored the final three points to take the opening set 25-22.
South Carolina had the early edge as the Gamecocks looked to bounce back in the second. They doubled up Ole Miss for an early 10-5 lead, using a 7-1 run and forcing the Rebels to call their first timeout. Out of the break, Bair and company used the reset to spark a 4-0 run to climb back within two. Once again, the Gamecocks restored their five-point lead. It was then that Ole Miss turned to Schnitta, who provided a spark off the bench with four massive kills on four swings. Ratliff took over, looking seemingly unstoppable on the slide, to cap off the set victory in come-from-behind fashion.
Schnitta continued her hot hitting to start set three as Ole Miss took an early lead. South Carolina, however, wouldn't go away quietly, battling back to take a 15-14 lead at the media break. Both teams proceeded to go back and forth, fighting for the lead. Tied at 23, Schnitta delivered a big kill to force set point, but South Carolina took advantage of a pair of attack errors to force a fourth set.
Only needing to win one more set, Ole Miss and South Carolina traded points until a pair of 3-0 runs on both sides of the media timeout helped the Rebels take an 18-14 lead. Ole Miss kept its foot on the gas, inching closer to set point with kills from Vivian Miller and Schnitta, and a service error from the Gamecocks sealed the victory.
Ole Miss is back in action Sunday at 3 p.m. for the series finale. Fans can catch the match on ESPNU.
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB, Facebook at Ole Miss Volleyball, and on Instagram at @olemissvb.
