Volleyball Hosts South Carolina And No. 12 Tennessee

RALLY POINTS

• Ole Miss Volleyball continues SEC play, opening up a three-match homestand on Friday against South Carolina. The Rebels then welcome No. 14 Tennessee to town on Sunday.

• Last week, Ole Miss kicked off conference play with a sweep of Alabama at home and dropped a tough battle with No. 24 Auburn on the road.

• With four straight wins at home, Ole Miss is looking for its best start to a season in Oxford since 2014 (9-0).

• The Rebels have been extremely sound on defense, leading the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.154) and digs per set (15.3).

• Libero Cammy Niesen leads the SEC with 220 digs on the season (4.58 per set).

• The middle blocker duo of Payton Brgoch and Sasha Ratliff leads the SEC in hitting percentage and ranks top-40 in the nation.

• Anna Bair ranks 34th nationally (sixth in the SEC) among active players with 1,292 career kills.

• Sasha Ratliff, a two-time All-SEC Team member, was one of 15 student-athletes named to the conference’s preseason team.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS

Ole Miss continues SEC conference play this Friday, hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks for their first of two meetings this year. Led by head coach Tom Mendoza in his sixth season, the Gamecocks will look to snap a three-match skid after they finished the non-conference with a 6-3 record and started SEC play with losses at No. 16 Arkansas and Missouri. South Carolina is led in the front court by junior outside Lauren McCutcheon, who averages 2.64 kills per set, hitting at a .159% clip. Defensively, junior libero Morgan Carter and junior middle blocker Oby Anadi lead the Gamecocks with 4.57 digs per set and 1.41 blocks per set, respectively. Further, both players are ranked second in the SEC in their respective categories and help South Carolina average 2.79 blocks per set as a team, the 13th best mark in the NCAA. 

SCOUTING THE LADY VOLS

The Rebels close out the second weekend of SEC play hosting the Tennessee Lady Vols. In her sixth season at the helm, head coach Eve Rackham Watt has elevated the program into the national spotlight. This past week, the Lady Vols recorded their fifth consecutive sweep, including their first over Kentucky since 2016, and moved up to the No. 12 spot in the AVCA/TERAFLEX Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Poll. Tennessee brings a strong all around team to…