Ole Miss Volleyball’s McLaughlin and Ratliff Garner All-SEC Honors

Following one of the best regular seasons in program history, Ole Miss volleyball’s Kylee McLaughlin and Sasha Ratliff were named to the All-SEC team, the conference announced Sunday. It marks the first time Ole Miss has had two student-athletes tabbed All-SEC.

The duo was instrumental in the Rebels’ rapid turnaround to a 21-8 record this season, the first 20-win regular season for Ole Miss since 2013. The Rebels’ .724 (21-8) winning percentage is the best in program history in the rally scoring era. With McLaughlin and Ratliff on the court, Ole Miss finished tied for fifth in the SEC with ten conference wins, the most since it won 13 in 2010. 

McLaughlin came into the program as a graduate transfer from Oklahoma and made an immediate impact at the setter position. She tallied over 1,000 assists this season and eclipsed 4,000 for her career in the match against Kentucky. The Carrolton, Texas, native ranks 11th among active NCAA leaders in career assists with 4,621 and is one of 22 active players with over 4,000 in their career. The Rebels’ primary passer assisted on 76 percent of kills this season while recording 40 or more assists on 11 different occasions. Earlier this year, McLaughlin earned SEC accolades as the Player and Setter of the Week on Oct. 25, after the Rebels swept Missouri on the road in back-to-back matches. 

Ratliff has been a dominant force at the net this season. The sophomore middle blocker paced the team with a school record 112 assisted blocks, two shy of the single-season total block record with 128. Ratliff also helped the team break both single-season records for block assists and total blocks, as Ole Miss ranked sixth in the SEC and 56th nationally with 2.43 blocks per set. The Atlanta, native was also a top offensive contributor, ranking third in the conference and 29^th nationally at a .387 hitting clip. Ratliff became the first Rebel since 2016 to be named the SEC Player of the Week and was also selected as the Holiday Inn-University Plaza Tournament MVP after she tied her then-career-highs with 15 kills and nine blocks in the win over No. 15 WKU.

Ole Miss will take on No. 14 Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.

Staff Report