The Ole Miss volleyball team got their first conference win of the season in comeback fashion on Friday, knocking off Tennessee in a five-set thriller.
On a night when several records were broken, senior defensive specialist Nicole Purcell recorded a career-high 27 digs, and head coach Steven McRoberts gained his first win in an SEC opener.
“[We] were prepared for this weekend, we knew we wanted to win, we knew we wanted to beat Tennessee and we wanted to win our first SEC match,” Purcell said.
Emily Stroup led the way with 22 kills on a .227 hitting percentage. Anna Bair contributed 20 kills and three blocks to the effort. Lauren Bars had seven kills and 39 assists. Sophomore middle blocker Aubrey Sultemeier also played a great match, recording four kills and seven total blocks.
“We still have 17 SEC matches, and we need to be ready for Mississippi State next Friday, but we started things off the right way,” said McRoberts.
The Volunteers went up early in the match by controlling the first set for the entire duration. The Rebels came out of the gates slowly, conceding easy points and staying in the set only by the grace of several mistakes made by the Vols’ side. Tennessee wrapped up the first set 25-20 and took a 1-0 lead in the match, a gut punch to a Rebels team that was juiced up for an upset.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair, and again Ole Miss was allowed to stay in the match because of attack errors by the Vols.
Facing the possibility of going down 0-2 at home, Ole Miss turned to a familiar face in senior outside hitter Stroup, who delivered with a powerful kill followed by back-to-back aces.
Another kill by redshirt freshman Bair put the Rebs up 24-21, but three straight points from Tennessee evened the score at 24 and forced the match into extra points. The Rebels responded by scoring two points to close out the set and evened the match at 1-1.
The third set was also controlled by the Vols who cruised to an easy 25-19 victory. It looked as if their valiant effort in the second set had drained the Rebels, as they trailed by a large margin for nearly the entire set.
The fourth set was a game of runs, and neither side looked to be able to put the other to rest. A four-point run early in the set gave Ole Miss a three-point lead. The following run by Tennessee gave them a one-point advantage. A pair of three-point runs gave the Rebels a five-point cushion. The set looked to be over after the Rebs went on yet another run to take a 23-15 lead.
The Volunteers stormed back with a 9-1 run to even the score at 24 and force another set into extra points. Ole Miss closed it out in spectacular fashion behind another key kill by Stroup that forced the match into a decisive fifth set. During this set, junior setter Lauren Bars recorded her 2,000th career assist, making her the fourth player in program history to hit that mark.
Ole Miss led the entire fifth set with the only tie coming at 1-1. The Volunteers did not go away easily, and a challenged play near the end wiped away a three-point Ole Miss lead and narrowed the deficit to one. The Rebels again turned to Stroup, who rocked a shot into the back-right corner to seal the win.
The Rebels travel to Starkville to face the Bulldogs on Friday.
