Fall is the season of sweeping. Usually that means leaves, but this past weekend, Ole Miss took it to the court and came away with a pair of huge victories against Alabama. The Rebels have struggled so far this season, but two wins mean that they are now .500 (3-3) in the conference.
The starters for Game 1 were Cammy Niesen, Payton Brgoch, Vivian Miller, Julia Dyess, Sasha Ratliff, Ally Borellis and Katie Corelli.
The Rebels would drop the first set 25-27 but would bounce back and silence the Crimson Tide by winning the final three sets 25-20, 25-15 and 25-22.
Both Corelli and Vivian Miller set career-highs and tied to lead the team in kills with 15, while Anna Bair finished in second with 13 (along with two aces). Ratliff also had 13 kills, but more impressively managed to grab eight blocks against the Crimson Tide in order to keep their hitting percentage at .116.
Setting up the Rebels’ offense was Borellis, who logged a crazy 46 assists. For context, the next highest in the category was Niesen with five. Niesen had a strong game in her own right though as she logged 28 digs.
The Saturday starters were Niesen, Brgoch, Vivian Miller, Maggie Miller, Dyess, Ratliff and Borellis.
Unlike the first match, the Rebs would start off by winning the first two sets 25-23 and 25-20. Alabama would show signs of life and take the third set 23-25, but dropped the fourth 25-16.
Leading the team in scoring was Vivian Miller with 18 followed by (shockingly) Bair at 17. Vivian Miller played an incredibly balanced game, as she also put up a game-high 17 digs. Borellis once again eclipsed the 40-mark for assists with 43 to cap off an astounding 89-assist weekend. Ole Miss also cut back on errors, committing just 20 this game after having 23 in Friday’s matchup.
With these wins, the Rebels extend their win streak to three and move to the middle of the SEC table at .500 in the conference. Next week the Rebels take on a strong Kentucky squad that has an impressive 5-1 record so far in the SEC and is ranked 19th nationally. The Rebs are riding high right now after this weekend and hope to channel that momentum in a huge upset win against the Wildcats.
