Ole Miss Volleyball Gears up for Rebel Invitational

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss Volleyball HC Steven McRoberts. Photo by Steven Gagliano

The Ole Miss volleyball team gets the 2019 season underway on Friday as they host the annual Rebel Invitational. The Rebels will take the court at 6 p.m. against the Rice Owls.

Last season, the Rebels finished with a record of 14-18 with a mark of 4-14 in conference action. Coach Steven McRoberts’ club was picked to finish tenth in the SEC.

The Rebels have five key returners to the floor: Lauren Bars, Nicole Purcell, Emily Stroup, Aubrey Sultemeier and Nayo Warnell.

“[As a team] we’re taller, we’re more physical than we’ve been in years past,” McRoberts said. “We’ve had a good preseason so far.”

Ole Miss has added depth to its lineup with the addition of Anna Bair, Lauren Delo, Maggie Miller and Ava Wampler.

Ole Miss will host UCF, Iowa State and Rice this weekend at the Gillom Sports Complex.

“It is arguably one of the best tournaments in the nation this weekend with Rice, Iowa State, and UCF coming in,” McRoberts said. “Rice and UCF are both receiving votes in the Top 25. Iowa State has typically been a Top 25 team over the last 10 years.”

The Rebels will only take the floor for one match per day in the invitational this opening weekend.

“From a scheduling standpoint [we’ve] tried more and more to play one game a day. It’s just so hard on these student-athletes to play twice (in one day), he said.

Fans can watch the matches on the SECNetwork+ of all the Rebel home matches.