Ole Miss Volleyball Opens Conference Action at Auburn

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

The Ole Miss volleyball travels over to the Plains of Auburn on Wednesday to take on the Auburn Tigers in their SEC conference opener. The first serve is set for 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

Ole Miss is off to a fast 11-0 start to the 2021 season by going undefeated through non-conference play for the second time in program history (2014).

Coach Kayla Banwarth’s squad ranks first in the SEC, outhitting all other schools at a .300 clip.

Ole Miss is coming off of a three-match sweep to claim the Indiana Invitational by taking down Chicago State (3-1), Alabama A&M (3-0) and Indiana (3-0). Against the Hoosiers, Ole Miss went wire-to-wire in the three-set match as the Rebels came out on top. The Hoosiers pushed Ole Miss to a potential fourth set with the third tied at 24 all, back-to-back kills from Samantha Schnitta and Anna Bair gave the Rebels the 26-24 set win and the match win.

Auburn is off to a hot start at 8-1 winning their first six matches and sweeping their first five, before falling in five sets to Florida A&M.

The Tigers rank second in the conference as a team, averaging 2.78 blocks per set and first holding its opponents to a .101 clip. In the back row, the Tigers rank second as well, averaging 16.88 digs per set.

This will be the 68th all-time meeting between the two programs. Ole Miss has a seven-match advantage over Auburn 37-30 in the series. In recent years though, it has been the Tigers on top winning the last four of five.