Ole Miss Volleyball went 6-5 through its nonconference schedule this season. The team is filled with new faces, which made nonconference play important for both resume building and team chemistry. The Rebels will look to find more consistency in conference play to improve on their 4-11 SEC record last season.
Head coach Bre Henry and her team will begin conference play on Sunday, Sept. 27 with an away game against Alabama before returning to the Gillom Athletics Performance Center to face Missouri and Vanderbilt on Oct. 2 and 4, respectively.
The Rebels’ 11 nonconference games certainly tested the team. Their losses came at the hands of LMU, Washington, Kansas, Grand Canyon and Memphis. LMU and Memphis were tightly contested 3-1 losses, while Washington was a back-and-forth 3-2 affair. Unfortunately, after two losses in the Jayhawk Classic, the Rebels are riding a three-game losing streak going into SEC play.
Ole Miss heavily relies on the team’s defense. Libero Cameron Bradley leads the SEC in digs with 203 total.
Additionally, Bradley is sixth in the NCAA in digs per set with 5.21. She is one of eight players in the country to hold an average over five. She provides excellent play on the court as well as veteran leadership. Replacing Ole Miss legend Cammy Niesen is no easy task, but Bradley has excelled so far.
Other than Bradley, the Ole Miss defense needs to improve for the conference schedule. Ole Miss ranks last in the SEC in opponent hitting percentage with .230. Worse yet, the Rebels have been this inefficient against mostly unranked teams. The only ranked opponent they have faced is No. 22 Kansas, and that matchup ended in a 3-0 loss.
On the positive side, Ole Miss has wins over Power Four opponents Ohio State and Clemson.
Henry is still finding her best combination of players. Eleven different players tallied more than 15 sets across the first eight games. Henry frequently emphasizes the importance of depth for this 2026 squad.
The players who closed out games recently include hitters Jorda Crook, Shayla Meyer, Bella Bonanno, Carly Paugh, Melia Johnson and Nina Moorer. Setter Vivianna Samaniego starts and finishes matches. Tenesyn Frye provides solid play off the bench in Samaniego’s absence.
Offensively, Ole Miss has struggled. The offense, led by Crook and Meyer, ranks third in the SEC in kills, though the Rebels’ hitting percentage is a measly .216, which ranks second to last in the SEC, only ahead of Texas, who has played seven ranked opponents in eight games.
Still, the Rebels managed to scrape out a 6-5 nonconference record. The Rebels are scrappy; they have a knack for extending volleys, which results in errors from the other team.
