Ole Miss Volleyball Opens SEC Play Against Texas A&M

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

Ole Miss volleyball welcomes the Texas A&M Aggies into Oxford to start SEC play this evening. The first serve is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss comes into the match with a 4-6 overall record after winning two of three contests over Florida A&M and Eastern Kentucky at the Jaguar Invitational. The Rebels fell to the host school South Alabama.

Ole Miss’ offense stacks up as one of the nation’s best, ranking seventh in assists per set, 13th in kills per set and 49th in hitting percentage.

Senior Anna Blair currently ranks second in the SEC and 23rd nationally with 4.24 kills per set. Her teammate, middle blocker Sasha Ratliff was one of 15 student-athletes named to the Preseason All-SEC Team. She earned all-conference honors last year after a breakout sophomore campaign.

Texas A&M rides into Oxford with an 8-3 record on the season after big wins over Hawai’i and #21 Western Kentucky. Two of their losses have come at the hands of top-25 opponents in #6 Pittsburgh and #25 San Diego.

Offensively, the Aggies are led by the attacking duo of Carolina Meuth and Logan Lednicky. Meuth leads the team with 3.89 kills per set and is hitting at a .279 clip. Lednicky has shined for the Aggies, claiming two SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season. Setter Elena Karakasi averages 9.47 assists per set and has the team hitting at a .256 attacking percentage.

On the defensive side, libero Lauren Hogan leads the team in digs with 133, while the Aggies are registering 2.47 blocks per set as a team.

Texas A&M leads the series 18-3, however, it’s been much closer between the two programs in recent years. Ole Miss earned its first two wins over the Aggies in 2017, and just last year, came out on top in a five-set thriller to snap A&M’s five match winning streak in the series.