The Ole Miss Volleyball team swept Memphis in Oxford Tuesday night, their second home game of the season.
Ole Miss entered the game 4-3 on the season, while the Tigers entered at 7-2. The Lady Rebels celebrated pediatric brain cancer awareness by honoring Bre Henry’s niece, Isla, who has an inoperable brain tumor.
Set one
Ole Miss scored first, and then the score went back and forth a time. Neither team was able to establish a substantial lead.
The Lady Rebels’ front row had several stellar sequences. Junior Gabi Placide had three kills in the team’s first 10 points.
Heading into the first media timeout, Memphis led by two, 15-13. When play resumed, the Tigers scored again to go ahead by three, the Tigers’ biggest lead of the set. Their lead did not go beyond three points, though. The Lady Rebels clawed back to take a 19-18 advantage, which forced a Memphis timeout.
The Lady Rebels scored first coming out of the timeout thanks to a massive roof by freshman Carly Paugh. But the Tigers tied the set quickly, Ole Miss took its first timeout with the score knotted up at 22.
Freshman Bella Bonanno served, and the Lady Rebels roofed the Tigers’ return to win the set. Placide led the Rebels in kills with six, and Meyer added five. Senior Cammy Niesen had four digs.
Set two
The Lady Rebels came out with an ace to take an early lead, but lost it with a service error. The Tigers fought their way back within two, 5-3.
From there, neither team could get on a roll, so the score remained close. A service error gave Ole Miss a 15-13 lead before the first media timeout.
An ace, a kill and a block from Ole Miss pushed the lead to 21-16, forcing a Memphis timeout. Afterwards, a kill by junior Tessa Jones pushed the Rebel lead to 24-18 to set up match point. Memphis scored four consecutive points to cut the deficit to two, and the Lady Rebels called a timeout to reassess.
Coming out of the timeout, a Meyer kill secured the win, 25-22. Despite the close score, the score was tied only once, and Memphis never led. The Lady Rebels took a 2-0 advantage in sets.
Set three
The Tigers had an offensive charge to start the third set and led 7-5. They extended their lead to 11-8, and Ole Miss took a timeout.
Paugh continued her solid night with a kill to put Ole Miss within two out of the break. The Lady Rebels strung together a couple of points before a Tiger injury paused play.
After a Memphis timeout, freshman Cameron Bradley came in to serve. Ole Miss tied the game, then took the lead on an attack error. Bradley gave Ole Miss four consecutive points to take a 16-13 advantage.
Ole Miss found their groove and went up 18-15. The Lady Rebels pushed the lead to 20-16 with a kill from Placide and an ace from Niesen.
A Memphis attack error gave Ole Miss a match point opportunity. The Tigers scored a point to make it 24-19, but Placide shut down on the Tigers with a massive kill to win the set and the match.
Ole Miss won their sixth consecutive set, their second sweep against two opponents.
“A win’s a win. Do I think it was the prettiest thing that we’ve ever done? No,” head coach Bre Henry said in a postgame interview with The Daily Mississippian. “But it just continues to give us a few more things to work on.”
The Lady Rebels were back in action in the Red Raider Classic earlier today against Incarnate Word. They play Texas Tech tonight at 7 p.m. and the University of Albany on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 2:30 p.m. ESPN+ is broadcasting the games.
