Ole Miss volleyball set for road match at No. 16 Texas
Ole Miss was scheduled to visit No. 16 Texas on Friday for its final regular-season road match, according to the team’s preview published Thursday. The calendar listed the match for 6:30 p.m. CT in Austin, with a stream on SEC Network Plus.
The Rebels entered at 8-16 overall and 2-11 in the Southeastern Conference. Texas was 13-8 and 9-4 in league play. The Longhorns had won all five previous meetings, though Ole Miss took at least one set in four of them. Texas eliminated the Rebels with a 3-0 win in last season’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal.
Ole Miss’ most recent match was a 3-1 loss to Arkansas on Sunday in Oxford. Jorda Crook led the Rebels with 13 kills. Shayla Meyer recorded 12 kills and 11 digs, while setter Vivianna Samaniego had 37 assists and 10 digs. Rileigh Butler added a career-high 15 digs.
The Rebels won the second set and hit .368 in the third, but Arkansas went on to secure the match, according to the Ole Miss account. Melia Johnson also had nine kills without an error on 16 attempts against Oklahoma, a first in her career for that combination of production and efficiency.
Ole Miss has been more successful at the service line in matches with at least seven aces, going 7-0 in those contests and 1-16 in all others. The team has also won more sets late in matches: It was 15-33 in the first and second sets combined, compared with 17-23 in sets three through five.
Libero Cameron Bradley was sidelined by an injury but remained the SEC leader with 4.93 digs per set, the team said. Bella Bonanno posted career highs of 18 digs against South Carolina and 20 at Auburn. Butler’s 15 digs against Arkansas also marked a career best.
Texas entered the scheduled matchup ranked 16th, with Torey Stafford averaging 4.43 kills per set and Cari Spears averaging 3.01, according to Ole Miss. Freshman Henley Anderson had 187 kills. Ramsey Gary led the Longhorns with 302 digs, while Nya Bunton had a team-high 71.0 blocks. The preview also noted Texas losses to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt in SEC play and an early-season ACL injury to Abby Vander Wal.
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