Headlines
Ole Miss Volleyball Prepares for Central Arkansas Classic
By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
Photo by Ellen O’Nan/Ole Miss Athletics.
Ole Miss volleyball travels to Conway, Arkansas this weekend to take part in the Central Arkansas Classic. First serve for the Rebels will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday against Little Rock.
Ole Miss (3-3) bounced back on the court in New Orleans as they defeated Houston Baptist, Missouri State and Tulane to claim the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Volleyball Classic.
“We handled those first two matches really well,” head coach Steven McRoberts said. “We even played a very good Tulane team on their home court on Sunday.”
Over the weekend, senior outside hitter Emily Stroup had a strong performance that earned her MVP of the Allstate tournament. Freshman outside hitter Anna Bair also had another solid performance on the court.
“(Bair has) really taken her play up and, to be honest, it was surprising the first weekend playing the teams we played how well she did,” he said.
Coach Steven McRoberts’ squad is going back to where he got his Division I start at the University of Central Arkansas.
“I have a lot of great memories from coaching there for six years,” McRoberts said. “I started there when the program was still a Division II program for a year, then they made the transition.”
The Little Rock Trojans enter the weekend seeking their first win of the year. The squad has tallied 157 kills on the season and is led by junior Nedima Kamberovic. The outside hitter is coming off a career-best performance with 15 kills against Oral Roberts last weekend in Tulsa.
Little Rock was chosen to finish third in the Sun Belt, and middle Carol Barbosa was honored as a Preseason All-Conference selection. She’s posted 20 kills on the season, averaging 2.2 per set with five total blocks.
Ole Miss and Little Rock have met nine times in the program’s history. The Rebels lead the series at 6-3.
The Rebels will take on Central Arkansas Friday (6:30 p.m.) and conclude the classic on Saturday against Oral Roberts (2:30 p.m.).
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
| Thu, Jan 2 |  | vs Duke (Gator Bowl) | 6:30 PM • ESPN |