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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Lipscomb
Volleyball Hits The Road For LUV Invitational
8/30/2023 | Volleyball
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LUV INVITATIONAL August 31 - September 1 Nashville, Tenn. Allen Arena |
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| Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF) | ||||||||
| Thursday, August 31 Ole Miss at Lipscomb 6 p.m. |
Friday, September 1 Ole Miss vs. Tennessee State 6 p.m. |
| Watch • Live Stats | Live Stats |
RALLY POINTS
• Ole Miss volleyball looks to get back on track this week at the LUV Invitational in Nashville. The Rebels are set to take on Lipscomb and Tennessee State.
• Setter Aly Borellis notched her 1,000th career assist this past Sunday. She ranks 39th nationally with 10.50 assists per set this season.
• After missing all of last season with an injury, Shayla Meyer made her collegiate debut last weekend.
• Transfer Nia Washington made an immediate impact, registering a double-double in her first start.
• Sasha Ratliff, a two-time All-SEC Team member, was one of 15 student-athletes named to the conference's preseason team.
• Four years in a Rebel uniform just wasn't enough for Anna Bair and Maggie Miller, who chose to utilize their extra year of eligibility and return for a fifth season with the Rebels.
• Last season, the Rebels' young core of Aly Borellis, Cammy Niesen and Vivian Miller turned heads in the SEC, garnering a combined four weekly honors. Borellis also earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
The tournament hosts, Lipscomb, are led by head coach Brandon Rosenthal in his 21st season with the program. He boasts a 361-240 overall record with the Bisons. Last year, Rosenthal led Lipscomb to a 16-13 record and a trip to the semifinals of the ASUN tournament. With 12 returners expectations are high as the Bison were picked to finish second in their conference. Lipscomb opened its 2023 campaign in Nebraska last weekend, falling in all three matches. Playing at home for the first time this year, the Bison are in search of their first victory of the season.
After leading Tennessee State to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title last season and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Donika Sutton and the Tigers return players in 2023. Picked to finish sixth in the conference this season, Tennessee State is motivated to prove people wrong. The Tigers opened the season at the Western Illinois Tournament, where they dropped both matches they played. TSU fell to Murray State in five sets and were swept by Cleveland State. Heading into the weekend, they are searching for their first win of the 2023 season.
SERIES HISTORY
The Rebels lead the all-time series with both teams, 2-1. Ole Miss fell to Lipscomb in straight sets the last time they faced off in 2016 and are looking to pick up a third straight victory over Tennessee State.
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, just three matches into the 2023 season, she is looking to not only establish herself as one of the conference's best setters but the nation's. Borellis is averaging 10.50 assists per set, fourth in the SEC and 39th in the country.
REBEL DEBUTS
This past weekend, two new faces joined the Rebels on the court. Sophomore Nia Washington made her Ole Miss debut after transferring from Iowa. She checked in off the bench against St. John's and made her first start the very next day, finishing with a double-double (13 kills and a career-high 17 digs). Redshirt freshman Shayla Meyer also made her collegiate debut, entering the match against FGCU in a reserve role. The Superior, Nebraska, native was involved in multiple facets of the game, tallying eight kills on a .583 clip, seven digs, a block and an ace. She followed it up the next day, earning her first start against Arizona State and posting eight kills and eight digs.
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 return 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 10th all-time. A key piece of the attack ever since stepping on campus, Bair has appeared in 104 matches in a Rebel uniform and recorded double-digit kills in 67.
Miller returns for a fifth season in an Ole Miss uniform after appearing in over 250 sets across 72 matches in her career. The Houston, Texas, native looks to continue to leave her legacy with the hopes of taking the Rebels back to the NCAA Tournament.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Blocking runs in the Ratliff family. In just three years, Ole Miss middle blocker Sasha Ratliff has quickly climbed into the top 10 in the record books, ranking fifth all-time in the rally scoring era with 302 total blocks, fifth in block assists with 244 and seventh in solo blocks with 58. A dominant force at the net, Ratliff has tallied 100-plus blocks in each of her last two seasons and is looking to do it a third straight time as she begins her senior year. 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.
ON THE ATTACK
Last season, Ole Miss ran one of the SEC and nation's top offenses under assistant coach Brad Creamer. The Rebels finished the season with the third most kills per set in the conference (49th in the country) and tallied the most team kills since 2018. Running an electric attack they spread the ball around, feeding middle blockers Payton Brgoch and Sasha Ratliff to the second and third best hitting percentages in the SEC, respectively. Ole Miss also saw outside hitters Anna Bair flourish and Vivian Miller burst onto the scene.
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 block assists 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 boasts 245 total blocks in her career, including 123 last season. Ratliff ranks fifth with 302 total blocks in her career. She has eclipsed 100 blocks in each of the past two years, 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.
PROGRAM CHANGERS
It's not just upperclassmen who are leaders for the Rebels. Bre Henry also welcomes back a highly touted freshmen class comprised of five AVCA High School All-Americans for their sophomore season. Setter Aly Borellis, outside hitter Vivian Miller and libero Cammy Niesen all played a key role in Ole Miss' success last year. The freshman trio did not disappoint in their rookie seasons in Oxford, collecting a combined four SEC Weekly Honors and playing in over 85.6% of the team's total sets. Henry's young core, that also includes redshirt freshmen Tessa Jones and Shayla Meyer, has made it their mission to put Ole Miss volleyball on the map and change the direction of the program.
AMONG THE LEAGUE'S BEST
Ahead of her senior season, Ole Miss middle blocker and two-time All-SEC team member Sasha Ratliff was one of fifteen student-athletes selected to the 2023 Volleyball Preseason All-SEC Team. It marks the second straight season that Ratliff has earned preseason praise from the SEC. She burst onto the scene as a sophomore and has collected conference honors each of the past two years. Last season, Ratliff earned All-SEC and AVCA All-Region honors, showcasing why she is one of the top middle blockers in the nation. The Atlanta, Georgia, native capped off her 2023 campaign with 106 total blocks. Ratliff was also an offensive weapon for the Rebels, tallying the second most kills on the team. She finished her junior year with 277 kills, including 13 matches with double digits, while hitting at a blistering .343 clip that ranked third in the SEC.
RED, WHITE AND BLUE REBELS
Each of the past two seasons, Ole Miss has been represented at the U.S. Women's National Team Open Program in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sasha Ratliff was able to participate and train with some of the top athletes in the nation back in February 2022, and this past season her teammate Aly Borellis had the opportunity to learn from the best, receiving an invitation to the prestigious training program. Both Rebels had the opportunity to spend three days training with some of the top collegiate athletes in the country as part of the selection process for the U.S. Women's National Team and the U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team.
FOLLOW THE REBS
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB,Facebook at Ole Miss Volleyball, and on Instagram at @olemissvb.
