Volleyball Practice Report: First Day in the Books

OXFORD, Miss. – Just three weeks until the start of the 2024 season, Ole Miss volleyball opened fall camp and completed its first day of practice on Friday at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center.

The team will begin training twice a day consisting of rotations between team practice, position training, weights and other various workouts. Head coach Bre Henry and the Rebels are excited to be back together in preparation for a successful season.

"I'm so excited to be back together with the team," said Henry. "To be together again and be working together to accomplish our goals is really exciting. There's joy in the gym because we're just happy to have our purpose back and be together again. We've missed each other."

Ole Miss returned 10 members from the 2023 squad, including All-SEC middle blocker Sasha Ratliff. Along the super senior, Payton Brgoch and Sommer Daniel both also elected to return and spend their fifth year of eligibility in a Rebel uniform.

"They are so impactful in so many ways, not just on the court, but off the court. They have been some true leaders in my mission of how I want Ole Miss volleyball to accomplish as a program for future years. It is intangible how great it is to have them back with their wisdom and care as veterans, let alone having them on the court and being studs for us while paving the way for how we should be."

These three are not the only Rebels that will be making an impact on the court this year. Henry also welcomes a trio of highly touted transfers in outside hitters Ragan Kinard and Emma Ammerman and setter Mokihana Tufono.

"It's really been a blessing to have each and every one of them impact our culture and our program in the way they have in the past six months."

"Ragan is probably one of the biggest culture pieces that I've ever seen get engrained as quickly as she has. She's a fantastic teammate and she is willing to do whatever for the team, serve in any way she sees fit."

"Emma is an extreme competitor and really pushes all of her teammates by believing in each and every one of them, that they can do everything that they want to accomplish. To see that voice in the gym and competitiveness is really great."

"Moki has the ability to fulfill a very impactful position for us on the team. Not only on the court, but off the court she brings this joy around the sport, playfulness and just a high level of competition that you really enjoy being around."

Along with all the veteran experience, Henry has brought in a strong mix of youth for her third year at the helm. Consisting of setter Carson Eickenloff, outside hitter Melia Johnson and libero Cameron Bradley, the Rebel freshman class will prove to be a force to be reckoned with.

"We haven't had freshman in like two years so it's been really exciting to have some fresh perspective on the court. We have a veteran team, which is really awesome and a blessing for them to get to learn, because one day they'll be the leaders of the team. I really just want them to learn what it means to be an Ole Miss Rebel, put in as much effort as possible, and impact our program on and off the court."

As Ole Miss continue to gear up for the season, the Rebels will look to improve on last year's performance and hopefully make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.

"Always our big goal for me is playing in December and getting Ole Miss to be a playoff team again. We also want to be the best serving team in the SEC and we're leaving one or two goals out there for the team to put together."

Fans will have their first chance to catch Ole Miss in action this preseason in an exhibition against North Alabama on Saturday, August 24 at 2 p.m. The match, like all events at the Gillom Center, is free and open to the public.

First serve of the 2024 season officially takes place on August 30 at 10 a.m. as the Rebels open play at the Arkansas State Invitational in Jonesboro, Arkansas, taking on Saint Louis.

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Players Mentioned

Emma Ammerman

Cameron Bradley

Payton Brgoch

Sommer Daniel

Carson Eickenloff

Melia Johnson

Ragan Kinard

Sasha Ratliff

Mokihana Tufono

The University of Mississippi Athletics