Rebel Volleyball Helps in Community in Cincinnati

OXFORD, Miss. – One day after defeating Tennessee Tech 3-0 on the volleyball court at the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Ole Miss volleyball team found time to give back to the city and help those in need.

“It humbles me to see what I have in my life and the amount of second chances I have had,” senior outside hitter Whitney Craven said. “I am blessed to have a team willing to reach out to people who are trying to make better of themselves, and I can’t express enough how thankful I  am that I have had an opportunity to play as a collegiate athlete. All you can do is encourage and drive people to continue their journey to be successful.”

The Rebels served breakfast from 6:30-7:30 a.m. at City Gospel in downtown Cincinnati. The organization is home to a drug and alcohol recovery program.

For breakfast, the team served the people who live there, but also some people from the surrounding area. The team also had time to talk with everyone and learn their stories, including one person who played college basketball and is trying to recover from alcohol and get his life back.

Jay, the head of the kitchen, told the girls, ‘You are one bad decision away from being in a place like this and needing assistance to get through the day.’ The experience was a touching one for the Rebels.

“I learned to never take things for granted, and that just one bad decision could lead to someone’s demise,” junior outside hitter Kara Morgan said. “Not everyone has the same opportunity that I have and I know I just need to thank God every day for things I have and how lucky I truly am.”

1st Weekend of SEC Play!!!

Goal:  WIN SEC WEST!!!

Talk to any of our players and they will let you know what our goal is this season and this weekend at home, we are going to be put to the test with LSU and Arkansas coming to OUR HOUSE!

LSU will be seeking revenge after last year being swept on our court while they were ranked #12th in the nation.  A whole new team with young players, but they are always well-coached and will come in ready to play.  The key is to stop their MB's.  In order to do this, we have to have great serving and efficient attacking on our side of the court.

Arkansas is vastly improved with tons of depth.  They have great pin attackers who will put our team to the test defensively!  Always a high-spirited match-up between the teams!  Kris Grunwald, assistant coach at Arkansas, used to be the assistant at Ole Miss under Coach Getzin, so some history during this match!

Come out and join us!  Should be a great start to the SEC season! 

Tournament Champions 5th year in a row!!!

Finally some home matches!!!  Three tough ones ahead with Big Ten undefeated Northwestern, always scrappy and disciplined team Central Arkansas, and Arkansas-Little Rock a team filled with great foreign players.  Our team came out ready to compete and took care of business quickly against all 3 teams!  As the weekend went on we continued to get better and better and it showed on the court!

Very proud of the team and we finished with a MVP honor of Amanda Philpot, and two All-Tournament selections:  Allegra Wells and Morgan Springer!

Heading to Louisville!

The team headed up to Louisville last weekend for another tough preseason tournament.  Starting with Louisville in their home opener.  Our team needed over 80 tickets for their own fans, but unfortunately, with the home opener for Louisville the match was sold out!  What a great crowd to play in front of.  We were very tough at the beginning of the match, but Louisville had a strong OH that seemed to make play after player and we could never get the momentum, we lost in 3.

Still looking for our first win of the season, we were in a tough match against Eastern Illinois.  A small, scrappy team that plays with a bunch of passion for the game.  Getting the start on the OH was Ashley Anderson and in the middle was Kellie Goss, both getting valuable playing time throughout the match.  Also, getting significant playing time was Kiley Sherman.  We scrapped and fought and beat EIU in 5.

Last match of the weekend was against a very scrappy and well-skilled Wichita State team.  Unfortunately, for the first time all season, Ole Miss was outworked and Wichita State came out on top in 4. 

The locker room after the weekend was pretty quiet, missed opportunities and the team needing a gut check and a new outlook for the rest of the season.  We will never be outworked again!  We will get better and it starts Tuesday at practice!

Ole Miss takes on Texas!!!

After a great preseason, the team headed to Austin, TX for 3 matches, 3 very tough matches!  The team had to start off though with a great snack, provided by Becky Smith, Rachael McLamore's mom.  She met the team in the lobby of the hotel, despite the team arriving late, she stuck around and provided sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, chocolate milk (a team favorite), water, and the best banana pudding ever!  Homemade of course!

The snack paid off because the first team up, Israeli National Team.  We came out firing on all cylinders:  attacking, defense, blocking, and our serving was very aggressive.  We took the Israeli National team down in 3.  A great feat considering this team is made of professionals!  Their captain is 38 years old!  They are getting ready to train for the Olympics!  What a great step for this program.

The next 2 matches would be even tougher with #4 Texas and Pepperdine!  The team fought hard against Texas, but couldn't sustain the energy and execution it takes to beat the 4th ranked team in the nation and we lost in 4.  Coming back that night with a heavy heart of a missed opportunity, the team could not rally and lost to a very good Pepperdine team! 

Overall, a great weekend for the team, we had over 50 Ole Miss fans at the match!  Plenty of Ole Miss love in Texas! 

Implementation of Ole Miss Systems

Segment II consisted of implementing the rest of our offensive and defensive systems.  Coming off of Camp Hopewell we knew we would be a good place both physically and mentally.  We also knew this would be a big push for our team, not getting a day off from each other in a week and a half and having to push through 6 more practices before their next day off!

The first practice was a little rough and we could tell we took 48 hours away from contacting the volleyball, but we got better each practice!  We continue to do competition points throughout each segment and it was announced today that Rachael McLamore won the most competitions.  Competitions consisted of 6 on 6 play, serving games, defensive competitions and more!  Even though she is just a freshman, she is playing a huge role on our team playing as the back-up setter.  She continues to find ways to contribute and make her team better!  Great job! 

What we learned...

Our team did a great job at Camp Hopewell, but all good things must come to an end.  We left Camp Hopewell very satisfied and hungry to take our new demeanor onto the volleyball court.  But before we leave, we need to take time to think about our trip and what we learned.

First of all, Camp Hopewell has amazing food!  It was so good.  Have you ever had Chess Pie Squares, it is a southern thing, but YUM!!!! 

Our second obstacle of the day was our own version of Titanic.  How do you get 15 players on board that was teetering and keep it level?  I'm not sure because we didn't get it, but we did better than we ever had.  We also took time to learn how to engage every member of our team at all moments, even if they are hurt.  Also, how we talk to one another and how it can come across.  For example, if you tell someone "I think you should do this", how does that come across compared to, "It would be best for the team if you did this.".  The challenge was, can we take that experience and learn from it on the next adventure, The Spideweb!

Our team got to come up with their own scenario, ours was, they broke into Florida's locker room and stole the scouting report and now they have to get out through the holes.  Everytime they go through a hole, the hole closes.  They must get every team member out before they get caught.  If any body part goes into any hole, it automatically closes.  It also closes if you touch any part of the rope.  The communication of the team was great.  Everyone provided insight into how they were going to accomplish it.  People took charge and made sure everyone was heard.  They also did a great job of voting to make sure everyone was on the same page.  If someone had a thought that was different than the team, you usually heard the words, "it would be best for the team if..."  Did we learn our lessons throughout the day, I think so!!!  Here are some videos of the team putting some people through the higher holes!  Great job!  Look at those muscles!

 Team lifting Amanda through the hole