The University of Mississippi Athletics

Saturday, September 3
Lincoln, Neb.
7 PM

Ole Miss

0-4,0-0SEC

0
at
3

Nebraska

5-0,0-0Big Ten

1
2
3
F
Ole Miss
13
23
21
0
Nebraska
25
25
25
3
Ole Miss Volleyball

Volleyball Drops Battle With No. 2 Nebraska

9/3/2022 | Volleyball

Rebels Come Up Short Against Huskers

LINCOLN, Neb. – Continuing its tough non-conference schedule, Ole Miss volleyball battled with the nation's No. 2 team in Nebraska, falling 0-3 Saturday night at the Devaney Center.
 
Rebel head coach Kayla Banwarth was welcomed back to her alma mater with a standing ovation prior to the match as 8,113 strong cheered on the former libero and assistant coach.

"That was fun. My girls had a blast," said Banwarth. "I know sometimes 0-3 isn't fun, but I'm happy when I see my girls competing hard. Going toe-to-toe against Nebraska, I have no complaints. I'm proud of the way they battled, proud of the way they competed and proud of the way they got better as the match went on. I thought Nebraska had to make really good plays to beat us in sets two and three." 

After a shaky first set, the Rebels (0-4, 0-0 SEC) settled in and forced the Huskers (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten) to make big plays to close out sets. Anna Bair led the attack with 11 kills, followed by freshman Vivian Miller who finished with eight and Katie Corelli who picked up all-tournament honors.
 
With the score tied at four, Nebraska used an early 6-0 to create separation from the Rebels and take a five-point lead. Ole Miss tried to chip away at the deficit, but another 7-0 run gave the Huskers a commanding 19-7 lead. From there, Nebraska continued to run away with the set, taking it 25-13.
 
Ole Miss hung tight with Nebraska in the second set, finding its footing. Bair and Miller came alive for the Rebels as they kept within striking distance at the media timeout. Coming out of the break, Ole Miss erupted with a 5-0 run to silence the crowd and force Nebraska to regroup with a timeout. The Huskers responded with a 5-1 run of their own, but the Rebels refused to go away. They clawed back into the match with a pair of kills from Payton Brgoch and Aly Borellis; however, Nebraska managed to narrowly take the second set by a score of 25-23.
 
Sasha Ratliff got the third set started with a pair of kills and combined on a block as both teams used little 4-0 scoring burst to knot things up. From there, both teams battled, going back and forth until the Huskers finally found breathing room at 21-19. In crunch time, Nebraska found a way to pull away and close out the match with a sweep.
 
Ole Miss resumes play next weekend when it travels to San Marcos, Texas, for the Bobcat Invitational on September 9 and 10.
 
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.
 
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