Volleyball Travels to Athens For Matchup With Georgia

			OLE MISS (8-11, 2-5 SEC) at GEORGIA (11-8, 2-4 SEC) Wednesday, Oct. 18 • 7 p.m. CT • Athens, Ga. Stegeman Coliseum
WATCH • LIVE STATS OLE MISS NOTES (PDF) • GEORGIA NOTES (PDF) • SEC NOTES (PDF)

RALLY POINTS
• Ole Miss Volleyball looks to snap a five-match skid on Wednesday, October 18, with a midweek matchup against Georgia at 7 p.m. CT.
• The Rebels round out their five-match road swing on Sunday with an instate showdown against Mississippi State.
• The last time these two teams met, Ole Miss took Georgia to five sets in Athens but fell 2-3.
• Senior Anna Bair recorded double-digit kills for the 74th time in her career on Sunday.
• Sasha Ratliff tallied her 800th career kill against Mizzou over the weekend.
• Middle blockers Payton Brgoch (.382) and Sasha Ratliff (.381) rank second and third in the conference in hitting percentage, respectively.
• Libero Cammy Niesen ranks second in the SEC with 318 digs on the season (4.42 per set). She has registered double-digit digs in all but one match this season.
• Two Rebels are closing in on career milestones. Anna Bair is one point shy of 1,500 in her career, and Payton Brgoch is two blocks away from 300.

SCOUTING GEORGIA
The Rebels enter the fifth week of SEC conference play as they travel to Athens, Georgia, to face the Bulldogs. Georgia (11-7, 2-4 SEC) comes into the week after a loss at South Carolina and a win against LSU, both in four sets. In his 7th year at the helm, head coach Tom Black looks to build off of the momentum they had during the 2022 season, where they made the NCAA tournament and won their first tournament game since 1995. The Bulldogs' front court is led by senior middle blocker and 2023 Preseason All-SEC selectee Sophie Fischer, who tallies 4.06 kills per set, the third-best mark in the conference. Added to her blocking and serving, she scores 5.18 points per set, the most in the SEC. The Bulldog backcourt is led by senior libero Mallory Downing and junior setter Clara Brower, who combine for 5.11 digs per set. Brower also paces the offense, dishing 9.89 assists per set.

ELITE COMPANY
Ole Miss' Sasha Ratliff tallied her 800th career kill on Sunday against Missouri. The senior middle blocker is writing her name all over the record book, boasting the best career hitting percentage (minimum 1500 attempts) with a blistering .352 clip and ranking fourth in the rally scoring era with 352 total blocks. One of the best to see the court in a Rebel uniform, Ratliff is one of six athletes in program history, including just the third in the rally scoring era, with at least 800 kills and 350 blocks.

LANDSHARK DEFENSE
One of the most improved areas for the Rebels this season has been the defense. Last season, Ole Miss ranked last in the SEC and 302nd nationally in opponent hitting percentage. That's all changed this season thanks to the addition of associate head coach Taylor Gregory, who leads the defensive efforts along with head coach Bre Henry. So far in 2023, the Ole Miss defense is averaging 14.68 digs per set, the second best mark in the SEC. Libero Cammy Niesen plays a large role in the effort, ranking third with her 4.42 digs per set. This, combined with the presence of Sasha Ratliff and Payton Brgoch, who help the Rebels average 2.16 blocks per set, have helped create one of the stingiest defenses in the SEC. Ole Miss is holding its opponents to a .194 hitting percentage in 2023, the sixth-best mark in the league.

DIGGIN' IT
As the Rebels rounded out non-conference play, the Ole Miss backcourt, led by libero Cammy Niesen, helped Ole Miss tally 113 digs against Tulsa, breaking another single match program record this season. Five Rebels finished with double-digit digs as the team topped the century mark. Niesen led the effort with a career-high 34 digs, the third most in a single match in the rally scoring era and the most by a Rebel since 2010.

HOT HITTING
Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time this season, the Rebels put on an offensive clinic, dominating Alcorn State to open the Ole Miss Invitational. The Rebels tied the program record for attacking percentage set two seasons ago against Alabama A&M, hitting at a blistering .488 mark with nearly 50 kills on 80 attempts. Payton Brgoch led the way with 11 kills on 16 swings, and Sasha Ratliff was also a perfect 6-of-6 in the match.

DIME TIME
Sophomore setter Aly Borellis picked up her 1,000th career assist on August 27, needing only 28 matches to accomplish the feat. Last season, the Rochester, Michigan, native earned SEC All-Freshman team honors after leading the Rebel offense. Now, she is looking to not only establish herself as one of the conference's best setters but the nation's. Borellis is averaging 9.56 assists per set, seventh in the SEC and 84th in the country.

REBEL ROOFING CO.
Over the past three seasons, the Rebels have been fortunate enough to watch two of the program's best middle blockers share the court. Payton Brgoch and Sasha Ratliff are leaving their legacy on Ole Miss volleyball. The duo both actively rank inside the top 10 in program history for total blocks in the rally scoring era, boast the second and third-best single seasons in program history when it comes to blocking and led the Rebels to a new program record for blocks in a season in 2021. Brgoch ranks sixth, boasting 298 total blocks in her career, including 123 last season and 71 this year. Ratliff ranks fourth with 352 total blocks in her career. She has eclipsed 100 blocks in each of the past two seasons, including 129 in 2021. With both middles playing their senior season, they look to cement themselves as two of the best to ever wear an Ole Miss uniform.

SUPER SENIORS
Four years in a Rebel uniform just wasn't enough for Anna Bair and Maggie Miller. After graduating last May with undergraduate degrees from Ole Miss, the two seniors made the decision to come back and utilize their fifth year of eligibility. Now in their "super senior" season, they're back for one more year with their teammates and coaches.

Bair returns for a fifth season after earning back-to-back AVCA South All-Region honors the past two years. She is one of 15 student-athletes in Ole Miss history to tally 1,000 career kills, ranking third in the rally scoring era and sixth all-time with 1,328 total kills. A key piece of the attack since stepping on campus, Bair has appeared in 119 matches in a Rebel uniform and recorded double-digit kills in 74, including 10 this season.

Miller returns for a fifth season in an Ole Miss uniform after appearing in over 300 sets across 87 matches in her career. The Houston, Texas, native is a steady passer in the back row, averaging 1.52 digs per set in her career, and gives the Rebels another weapon at the service line with 38 career aces.

FAMILY AFFAIR
Blocking runs in the Ratliff family. Over the course of her career, Ole Miss middle blocker Sasha Ratliff has quickly climbed into the top 10 in the record books, ranking fourth all-time in the rally scoring era with 352 total blocks, fourth in block assists with 285 and fifth in solo blocks with 67. Her knack for blocking comes from her father, Theo, who was a shot blocker too. One of basketball's best, he ranks 20th in NBA history with nearly 2,000 blocks in his 16-year career.

SUPPORT THE REBS
The Ole Miss Volleyball ACE Club provides a great opportunity to help head coach Bre Henry support the Rebels year-round. Funds from the Ace Club are a major component in helping address needs within the Ole Miss volleyball program, including updates to facility spaces, specialized training equipment, travel and other unique student-athlete or team building experiences that are critical for recruiting and enhancing the overall Ole Miss student-athlete experience. ACE Club memberships start as low as $100, and members have the opportunity to receive unique benefits and experiences, all while helping the Rebels compete at the highest level throughout the SEC and country.

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Players Mentioned

Anna Bair

Aly Borellis

Payton Brgoch

Maggie Miller

Cammy Niesen

Sasha Ratliff

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