Rebels Down UAB 3-0 in Home Opener

In their home opener, the Ole Miss Volleyball team downed UAB 3-0 in Game 1 of the Magnolia Invitational Thursday night to improve to 8-0 on the season.
The marketing department hosted a Welcome Coach Steven McRoberts party with free hot dogs and a poster giveaway, and the Rebels didn’t disappoint the more than 300 fans who showed up.

Four players hit above .300 including junior middle blocker Ty Laporte, who led the Rebels with 9 kills and a .533 attack percentage. The reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Nakeyta Clair finished with seven kills for a .357 percentage. She also added five blocks. Senior Cara Fisher recorded 16 digs.
The Rebels hit almost .300 (.294), including a .429 clip in the third set and only had 10 errors all night. Ole Miss held UAB (2-6) to just a .152 attack percentage.
“We are really pleased with the effort,” McRoberts said. “We had a low number of errors, in fact that probably one of our best matches as far as that goes. We kept a lot of pressure on UAB. We came out in the first set and had 17 kills, 25 digs. Not only did we play well offensively, but we played well defensively. We are pleased that we were very balanced and had four players hit over .300.”

Lexi Thompson was the only freshman to play against UAB, and she used the time wisely with six kills, five digs, two aces and no errors throughout three sets.
It marked the fifth shutout of the year for the Rebels in eight matches. Ole Miss can equal the best start in school history with a win against Mercer.
Laporte put the first ball down to give the Rebels the first lead in the match, and they never looked back controlling all three sets.
The Rebels hosted Mercer this afternoon in the second game of the tournament, and defeated them easily in three sets to improve their record to 9-0.
The Rebels will host by Jacksonville State tonight at 7 p.m.
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