Volleyball Drops Narrow Decision at No. 24 Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite containing some of Florida's top weapons, the Ole Miss volleyball program dropped a narrow, 3-1 decision at No. 24 Florida on Sunday afternoon at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Nia Washington led all Rebels (14-8, 4-6 SEC) with 19 kills and eight digs, while Payton Brgoch added 11 kills and five blocks on a .400 hitting percentage. Mokihana Tufono added 42 assists and eight digs, while Cammy Niesen tallied 20 digs. The Rebels held Florida's prolific hitter Kennedy Martin to her third lowest hitting percentage of the season, but Martin led the Gators (16-5, 7-3 SEC), with 22 kills.

Sasha Ratliff (1,002) also made history for the Rebels, reaching 1,000 kills in her career with five on the day. Ratliff becomes the 16th Rebel in program history to reach 1,000 kills and the third Rebel with at least 1,000 kills and 400 blocks in her career.

The two sides were separated by inches in the opening set, with neither side able to pull away. Washington opened the match on a high note, with four early kills and finished with five in the set. The Rebels responded to a 13-10 deficit with a 7-2 run to jump in front and force the Gators into a timeout. Nevertheless, a kill from Washington and a block from Brgoch and Shayla Meyer kept the Rebels in front, 21-18. Needing a response, the Gators answered the call, going on a 7-1 run to end the set and take the opening frame.

However, the Rebels did not let the match get away from them and opened the second set on a high note, jumping out to a 10-5 lead. Meyer jump started the offense with a pair of early kills, forcing the Gators into an early timeout. Despite the hosts nearly erasing the lead out of the timeout, the Rebels weathered the storm and rebuilt a 20-14 advantage. Washington was joined on the attack by Emma Ammerman, who provided a jolt with a pair of kills. With eyes on closing out the set, Brgoch tallied a kill and a block in the final three points, while Washington punctuated a 25-19 win with a kill.

Momentum appeared to be in the Rebels favor, as they built a 6-3 advantage in the third set behind two more kills from Washington. However, both sides remained deadlocked at 10-10, before the Gators emerged for an 18-13 lead. The Rebels fought back, cutting the lead to 22-20 behind kills from Ratliff and Washington. However, the Gators eked out a 25-22 win to go up 2-1.

Back-and-forth the two sides went in the must-have fourth set, with the Rebels fighting ahead 13-12 thanks to multiple kills from Ratliff and Washington, alongside several Gator errors. Florida countered with a 7-1 run to jump ahead 19-14 and put the pressure on the Rebels. Ole Miss would force the Gators into back-to-back errors to cut the lead to three, but the hosts would let them get no further, with some timely serving to win 25-18.

The Rebels return home for the first of four consecutive home matches, beginning with a battle against Oklahoma on Friday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. CT.

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Team Stats

Nia Washington

Payton Brgoch

Emma Ammerman

Sasha Ratliff

Players Mentioned

Emma Ammerman

Payton Brgoch

Shayla Meyer

Cammy Niesen

Sasha Ratliff

Mokihana Tufono

Nia Washington

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