Volleyball Rounds Out Road Swing With Magnolia State Showdown

RALLY POINTS
• Ole Miss Volleyball rounds out a five-match road swing on October 22 with an in-state showdown against Mississippi State at 2 p.m.
• The last time these two teams met, Ole Miss won the rivalry contest 3-1 in Starkville.
• Redshirt freshman Shayla Meyer is coming off back-to-back double-doubles, including a career-high 12 kills against Georgia.
• Payton Brgoch (.383) and Sasha Ratliff (.375) rank second and third in the conference in hitting percentage, respectively.
• The middle blocker duo, known as the Rebel Roofing Company, has also combined for eight blocks in four of their last five matches.
• Libero Cammy Niesen ranks second in the SEC with 337 digs on the season (4.38 per set). She has registered double-digit digs in all but one match this season.
• Brgoch recorded her 300th career block on Wednesday, becoming the 11th middle blocker in program history to surpass the milestone.

ELITE COMPANY

Ole Miss’ Sasha Ratliff tallied her 800th career kill on Sunday against Missouri. The senior middle blocker is writing her name all over the record book, boasting the best career hitting percentage (minimum 1500 attempts) with a blistering .351 clip and ranking fourth in the rally scoring era with 356 total blocks. One of the best to see the court in a Rebel uniform, Ratliff is one of six athletes in program history, including just the third in the rally scoring era, with at least 800 kills and 350 blocks.

LANDSHARK DEFENSE

One of the most improved areas for the Rebels this season has been the defense. Last season, Ole Miss ranked last in the SEC and 302nd nationally in opponent hitting percentage. That’s all changed this season thanks to the addition of associate head coach Taylor Gregory, who leads the defensive efforts along with head coach Bre Henry. So far in 2023, the Ole Miss defense is averaging 14.68 digs per set, the second best mark in the SEC. Libero Cammy Niesen plays a large role in the effort, ranking third with her 4.42 digs per set. This, combined with the presence of Sasha Ratliff and Payton Brgoch, who help the Rebels average 2.16 blocks per set, have helped create one of the stingiest defenses in the SEC. Ole Miss is holding its opponents to a .194 hitting percentage in 2023, the sixth-best mark in the league.

SHOWTIME

Battling back to force a fifth set, Ole Miss…