Ole Miss Volleyball vs South Carolina on October 20th, 2013 at the Gillom Sports Center
BUFFALO, N.Y. – A new era in Ole Miss Volleyball began this weekend, and the Rebels kicked it off right, winning the Buffalo Classic with a 3-0 win over Buffalo here Sunday afternoon at the Alumni Arena. The Rebels are 4-0 to start the year for the first time since 2007.
Ole Miss finished the tournament 4-0 without dropping a set in wins over Canisius, Siena, Lehigh and Buffalo. Junior middle blocker Nakeyta Clair, sophomore setter Aubrey Edie and sophomore right side hitter Melanie Crow were named to the All-Tournament Team, while Clair was named Most Valuable Player.
“It’s a great start, we couldn’t ask for a better start,” first year head coach Steven McRoberts said. “We were challenged quite a bit this weekend being down in sets, and came back a lot. In fact today, we were down early in the first se. These ladies did a great job of keeping their poise and executing in the 20s when we had the chance, and that’s the story of the day today.”
Clair finished the weekend with 42 kills, hit .381 and added 13 blocks. Crow posted 46 kills (3.80/s) for a .320 attack percentage. Edie did a solid job setting up the hitters and concluded the tournament with 149 assists.
With the first set tied 4-4 Buffalo went on a seven-point run to take an 11-4 lead. The Rebels cut it to one, 18-17, on an error by Buffalo. They were able to tie it up at 20 on a kill from Crow, and then on the next play, Clair put it down to give Ole Miss its first lead of the set, 21-20. The Rebels had match point at 24-23 on a block by Laporte and Bakima, but Buffalo won the next two points to grab their first match point at 25-24. The Rebels would have another match point at 26-25, but again Buffalo answered. On their third match point, Crow knocked it down for the 28-26 win.
Neither team gained control of the second set, with both teams trading points until late. As they had done previously during their other three matches, the Rebels took control at the end with two huge kills from Crow to win it 25-22.
The third set was much like the second, in that neither team gained the early momentum. Midway through the set, it was tied 11-11, but the Rebels made a run to build a five point lead 20-15, forcing Buffalo to use its last timeout. The Bulls never threatened as the Rebels closed 25-18 for the win.
Ole Miss travels to Memphis, Tennessee next weekend for the Memphis Invitational Sept. 5-6. The Rebels will face the University of Memphis Friday at 7 p.m.
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Ole Miss (4-0) 28 25 25
Buffalo (2-2) 26 22 18