The Ole Miss Rebel volleyball team prepares to take on LSU this evening at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.
Ole Miss comes into this match after splitting last weekend’s matches with No. 1 Florida and South Carolina on the road.
Coach Steven McRoberts discussed the win over South Carolina and the quick turnaround for his team.
“It was really nice to get a road sweep, and a road win just in general,” McRoberts said. “I thought we played one of our more consistent matches.”
Senior Lexi Thompson recorded a match-high 16 kills on a .333 clip to lead the Rebels in the victory over the Gamecocks.
“Lexi Thompson had a great bounce-back match,” McRoberts said. “I have coached her now for four years, and she has had her ups and downs, but I don’t know that I have ever seen her play three sets and not even have one kill.”
Let us take a closer look at the Tigers.
Beating Alabama for the first time since 2013, LSU comes into Wednesday’s match at 15-4 overall, 6-2 in the SEC. Their only two losses in SEC play are against No. 4 Florida and No. 6 Kentucky. The Tigers remain undefeated at home with the 3-1 win against Alabama. The Tigers are led by SEC Freshman of the Week Taylor Bannister, who finished with 21 kills against Bama and is averaging 3.38 per set. Sophomore Milan Stokes had a career-high 19 kills in the match on a .417 hitting percentage. Freshman Raigen Cianciulli also had a career-high 28 digs against the Tide.
“LSU has won four in a row and is playing with a lot of confidence,” McRoberts said. “A team that last year was down but are 32 in the RPI right now. They are inside the bubble for the NCAA tournament. It would be a great win for us to go there and get them.”
The Tigers lead the all-time series 53-17 over the Rebels. Last season, these two teams split the matches as the visiting teams took the win.
Fans can watch all of the action of tonight’s match on ESPNU starting at 8 p.m.
Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
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