Ole Miss Volleyball Travels To LSU, Hosts Auburn

Volleyball visits LSU on Friday before hosting Auburn on Sunday

Photo courtesy Joshua McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss volleyball team opens week seven of the season on the road at LSU on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT before returning home to face Auburn on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT at the Gillom Sports Center.

This is the first of two split weekends this season for the Rebels (10-7, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) with one road match and one home match.

LSU (11-3, 1-1 SEC) enter Friday’s match coming off a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory at Texas A&M on Wednesday evening. It was LSU’s seventh five-set match this season, and LSU’s fifth win in such matches. Auburn (9-7, 0-4 SEC) opened the season by winning nine of its first 10 matches, including a four-set victory over then-No. 10 ranked Nebraska.

“LSU is a very good team that has a lot of experience playing in tight matches this season,” Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said. “Playing down at their place, like anywhere in the SEC, is difficult, but we learned a lot last week about playing on the road in hostile environments.

“We’re looking forward to coming back home for our match Sunday against Auburn. Auburn is another tough team that had a great win earlier this year over Nebraska.”

Sunday at the Gillom Sports Center is International Student Night. All international students in attendance will receive two free tickets to the Ole Miss versus Idaho home football game Oct. 26.

Ole Miss has been led offensively by sophomore middle blockers Nakeyta Clair and Ty Laporte. Clair has a team-best .306 hitting percentage and is second on the team with 2.24 kills per set. Clair also leads the team and is fourth in the SEC with 1.15 blocks per set. Laporte, who is coming off a season-high 15-kill performance at Georgia, has a team-high 2.44 kills per set this season.

Freshman setter Aubrey Edie is coming off her best performance of the season at Georgia, where she recorded her team-high fourth double-double of the season and finished three kills shy of her first triple-double. Edie notched career-highs in assists (44), digs (16) and kills (seven) against the Bulldogs.

LSU has been very strong at the net this season, leading the SEC as a team with 2.78 blocks per set. Middle blockers Briana Holman (1.53 blocks per set) and Madi Mahaffey (1.13 blocks per set) lead LSU and are first and sixth in the SEC, respectively, in blocks per set. Holman is also a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection this season.

Auburn’s match against Ole Miss is its only match of the weekend. Auburn senior libero Sarah Wroblicky is currently fifth in the conference with 4.33 digs per set, and senior outside hitter Katherine Culwell leads the team offensively with 3.40 kills per set. Culwell is currently sixth on the active career kills list (877) in the SEC, just 29 blocks ahead of Ole Miss senior Kara Morgan, who is seventh on the list.

For all Ole Miss volleyball news and information, including daily recaps, live stats and results, go to OleMissSports.com. Fans can follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB and on Facebook at Ole Miss Volleyball.

— Ole Miss Sports Information