Ole Miss Volleyball finished 1-1 across two road matches this past weekend. The Lady Rebels were swept by Missouri on Oct. 17, but two days later, they won in five sets against Vanderbilt.
Missouri (lost 3-0)
The Ole Miss Lady Rebels traveled to Columbia, Mo., to play the Tigers. They lost in three sets.
Key players were outside hitter Gabi Placide and setter Mokihana Tufono. Placide was a strong contributor with 17 kills on .286 hitting, while Tufono had 29 assists and 10 digs.
The Rebels opened the first set with a 6-6 tie, but mental mistakes by the Lady Rebels allowed the Tigers to go on a 5-1 run. Placide and Shayla Meyer continued to score, but, with too many service errors by the Lady Rebels, Missouri extended its lead to 21-14.
A Tufono ace and a kill by Tessa Jones provided a spark for the Lady Rebels, but Missouri held on and won the set 25-19.
In the second set, the Ole Miss offense was much more active. Placide tallied multiple blocks and kills. Meyer served three aces, and Placide notched another pair of kills, putting the Lady Rebels ahead 17-14.
Yet from there, the Tigers adjusted and went on a 5-0 run. They stayed hot and took the set, 25-19.
Aniya Lewis made her season debut in the third set. Placide and Jones continued to make key plays, and the Lady Rebels built a 7-6 lead in the third set.
Tufono set up hitters throughout the set. Lewis tied the match at 17. The Tigers had back-to-back kills, but Placide and Melia Johnson kept the game neck and neck; however, Missouri took the lead and won the third and final set 25-22.
Vanderbilt (won 3-2)
The Lady Rebels traveled to Nashville to play Vanderbilt on Sunday, Oct. 19. This marked the first matchup between the two teams since Vanderbilt reinstated its program earlier this year. The Lady Rebels won 3-2 after a major comeback in the third set.
Placide led the team with 25 kills, along with a season-high 10 digs and six blocks. As always, Tufono was a key player in the match. She had a season-high of 53 assists, four kills, an .800 hitting percentage, 12 digs, two blocks and two service aces. She also did not make a service error.
Vanderbilt took a 7-1 lead to start the first set. After three kills by Meyer and four digs from Tufono, the Lady Rebels made a comeback. Still, the Commodores proved to be too much, and Vanderbilt won the set 25-19.
Ole Miss opened the second set with a 4-0 run. Placide, Meyer and Johnson maintained a strong quality of play and led the Rebels to a 16-10 advantage. Vanderbilt’s service errors helped the Rebels to a 6-0 run to win the set, 25-15.
The Commodores dominated the front end of the third set, amassing an 18-9 lead. But two service aces and two kills from Placide along with a kill from Tufono cut the Vanderbilt lead to four.
Strong serving from Tufono and two major blocks by Johnson gave the Lady Rebels the run they needed to take the lead 24-23. The teams went back and forth for a few points before libero Cammy Niesen made the biggest play of the game with a perfectly-placed free ball that resulted in a kill, tying the set at 26. Kills from Placide and Meyer gave the Lady Rebels a boost, and Ole Miss won the set 28-26.
Vanderbilt started off hot in the fourth set with a 16-11 lead. The Lady Rebels responded with a block and kill from Carlton to trim the Commodore advantage, but Vanderbilt ended up taking the set 25-19.
In the fifth and final set, with the match on the line, the Rebels offense came out swinging. As a team, Ole Miss hit .409 in the fifth set. Placide had four kills in the first five points.
In the middle of the match, the set was tied at 10. A block and three more kills from Placide put the Lady Rebels in charge, 14-11. In the final point, Vanderbilt’s swing went wide, and the Lady Rebels secured the match with a 15-11 win in the final set.
What’s next?
The Lady Rebels head home to host No. 2 Texas today They will then welcome No. 9 Texas A&M on Sunday, Oct. 26. ESPN+ will broadcast both games.
