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

Blindfolds and Noodles...does it get any better?

The last day of Camp Hopewell was definitely the best.  Not only the activities were awesome, but the growth in our team was amazing.  We started off with a game that included blindfolds and noodles.  How the game works is you have to blindfold one member of your team and without touching her, lead her to a noodle, have her pick it up and hit the other blindfolded person.  If you hit them first, you get a point.  May the best team win!


In the first round, we have Allegra v. Kellie.

 And yes, Kellie attacked her own team.  So Allegra's team has 1 and Kellie's team has 0.  Now the next group was Amanda and Whitney.

 

So now it is Allegra's team 2, Kellie's team 0.  Next match-up is Lara and Kiley.

This now makes it Allegra's team 3 and Kellie's team 0.  Next up, our captains, Regina and Morgan.  

 Yeah, Regina gets a point for her team!!!  Do you see the defensive posture she moves with, very nice for a middle blocker!  Did she swing the momentum to her team?  Next up Kara and Rachael with Kara's team in a 2 point hole to Rachael's team.

Go Kara!  Another point for her team.  We had to use some subs because of injuries so Kara's team felt comfortable to throw her back in!  This time with the championship on the line.  If Kara wins, they are tied and go to a tie-breaker, if Ruby wins, her team wins the championship.  Check it out...

Kara's team comes through with another victory so we are tied up.  The rules for the tie-breaker are pick your best competitor to win you the championship.  It is Ashley Anderson against Kara!

With the huge comeback victory, Kara's team takes the win!

What's Better than smores, songs, and....The Tick??!!

Team conquers the bucket pyramid!

The team had 48 hours off from the court and what better to do than get to learn more about each other.  The team head to Camp Hopewell, about 15 minutes from campus, for a Team Building session on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, the team arrived at about 3:30 and the activities immediately began.  The constant distractions were the bugs.  Lara Ontko describes herself as being deathly afraid of bugs and that's exactly what we saw.  At some point a bug flew past her and she screamed at ran.  Another part of the day, Kara Morgan threw a caterpillar at her and she almost busted into tears.  City girl in the country:)  The other "bug" to worry about was The Tick.  The Tick was a clothespin that could be put on you at any time without you knowing.  If one of the instructors yelled "Tick Check" and it was found on you, you had to do something.  For example, Kiley found it and had to break out into song with Regina and Allegra helping her out, you can see the video above.  Kiley also had it the 2nd time and she had to eat a bag of skittles in 10 secs and the third tick was found on Coach Sean Burdette who had to ride around the dining hall on a broom while the girls beat the rhythm to "We Will Rock You."

The team in their cabin

We did a couple more things and then it was time to hit the beds.  The girls stayed in a cabin that had 12 beds on each side, but they decided to move all the mattresses in one room so they could hang out. 

Ruby and Morgan at the fire

To finish the night we had a campfire where we did some Role Playing about rules and communication and had smores!  Whitney Craven had never had a smore before and watching figure out the perfect way to roast a marshmallow was very entertaining.  She decided that the all-black burnt marshmallow was indeed the best.


The team went to bed early because the next day started at 7:30AM.

Segment I: Rep it out!

Allegra and Regina block

Segment I was August 9-August 12th of our preseason and consisted of a total of 8 practices, one weight session, one swimming activity, and one meeting time.  Practice was focused on individual skill breakdown and implementation of our Red and Purple defense.  We did alot of eye sequencing from the defensive side of the ball as well.  We really feel defense can be a big strength of our program this year with blockers such as Regina Thomas and Allegra Wells and our libero Morgan Springer.  These three will be counted on heavily to be our defensive leaders and we are pretty excited about their progress over the summer.

As a program, the level of play is much higher than in the spring.  Whitney, Courtney (a.k.a Ruby), and Regina are all coming off knee surgeries and to see them all back on the court with the rest of the team who got tons of playing time in the spring is very exciting!

We leave for Camp Hopewell to work on our team togetherness and breaking through the uncomfortables.  It is a pretty exciting time to be a REBEL!

First practice in the books!

The first practice of the day is in the books!!!  The team was rewarded for all their hard work this summer by getting a first practice day of play!  After about an hour of ball control, serving and passing, and attacking warm-ups, the team took part in 6 on 6 play for the next hour and a half!  The coaching staff is VERY, VERY excited about the work the team put in this summer.  We feel we are already better than where we left off in April!  Next practice is from 3-6PM where the focus is getting back to technique in passing, serving, and attacking. 

The preseason is broke into 4 segments for the team, the first one taking place today until Friday morning with a focus on technique.  The staff wants the team to have tons of reps and make sure everyone is on the same page with technique and key words.

Very excited to get back in the gym with our team!

Allegra named to USA A2 Team!

Allegra celebrates a big play at Ole Miss!

Another first is happening in Ole Miss history, this time it involves sophomore RS Allegra Wells.  Allegra was named to the USA A2 National Program and took part in the National Open Championships in her hometown, Dallas, TX on May 23-June 1st.  Her team took 2nd place after a grueling week of practices and matches!  A very humbling experience that showcased the best players in the nation!  It was a great learning experience for Allegra.  She biggest thing she learned was the intensity and focus it takes to train day in and day out to play at a high level.  We can't wait to get Allegra back in our gym and show us everything she learned!

Regina Thomas named All-American!!!

Regina signing autographs at the NCAA Final Four!

 

For the first time in school history, the Ole Miss Volleyball program has its first AVCA All-American!!!  Regina was named an AVCA Division I Third-Team All-American, pretty impressive considering she missed the last 7 matches of the season with a torn ACL!!!  She was honored at the Final Four at the 2010 AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet and was announced in between sets during the match.  The coaching staff was present at the banquet and was able to watch Regina crutch up to stage to take the honor!  What a great accomplishment for our program and for our team!  An honor very well deserved and a showcase for our program!  Congrats Regina!!!

GAME DAY!!!

We have had 2 practices under our belt and the team feels good.  We left Oxford on Wednesday after having our best two practices of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and the momentum has continued this week in Berkeley, CA!!  We take the court in 3 hours for warm-ups before we take on a very scrappy UNC team!  Excitement continues around our program!

Traveling to the NCAA Tournament!

With their new travel shoes on, the team was ready to head to California.  The travel party includes the team, all coaches, managers, graduate assistants, strength coach, SWA, Academic Advisor, and athletic trainers  We split into 2 groups, one group traveled to LAX, with a 2 hour layover then onto San Fransisco.  The next group, headed up to Minneapolis, then onto San Fransisco.  The flight to California was 4 hours long, by far the longest flight of the season.  The flight with the team was a tough one.  Everyone's electronics were out of battery and the team was getting restless.  But we made it as did the other flight, where we headed to our charter bus and onto PF Chang's for dinner!  It was a long day of travel that began at 11:15 (CT) out of Oxford, MS and we got into San Fransisco at 7:45 (PT), which would be 9:45 (CT). 

The biggest obstacle over the next 2 days, get used to the time change and prepare for a run in the NCAA tournament!

We are dancing!!!

As the team sat patiently in the Women's Basketball Practice Facility Film Room, ESPNews released the NCAA Division I participants.  In all of our calculations, we were in, but we knew we were on the bubble.  The biggest question, where would we go and who would we play?

They announced the first 2 regionals and our name didn't show up.  Nervousness started to fill the room as the team, coaches, fans, and administrators waited.  Finally, the Seattle regional was announced and the cheers began!  Ole Miss is going dancing for the 3rd time in school history, all under Head Coach Joe Getzin.  This is the 3rd time in 5 years.  Our location, University of California in Berkeley, CA.  Our opponent, University of North Carolina, who placed 2nd in the ACC!!

We leave on Wednesday to head to Berkeley!  The whole team is excited, wish us luck!

Volleyball Makes School History!!!!

Ole Miss Volleyball made school history today by being ranked 31st in the latest NCAA RPI!  The team moved up 15 spots after their sweep of Arkansas and #12 LSU this past weekend!  This is the highest ranking in school history!

The RPI is a mathematical measurement of a team's strength.  The NCAA uses it to choose which teams get the at-large bids into the NCAA tournament in December.  A team with an RPI in the top 40 has a good chance of being in the NCAA Tournament!

Keep it up Rebels!

A great start...

At the 1/2 way point of the SEC season, the volleyball team is enjoying it's journey.  Here is a recap of the season so far:
*Rice Invitational Champions and Magnolia Tournament Champions
*SEC Conference Stats:  #3 Hitting Percentage, #2 Opponent Hitting Percentage, #3 Assists, #3 Kills, #1 Blocks, #3 Service Aces, and #2 Digs!
*SEC Individual Stats:  Regina Thomas:  #1 Hitting %, #5 in Blocks,  Whitney Craven:  #2 in Kills, Amanda Philpot:  #5 in Assists, Ashley Veach:  #3 in Aces, Miranda Kitts:  #4 in Blocks Morgan Springer:  #2 in Digs
*NCAA Rankings in the Nation:  35th in Assists, 32nd in Blocks, 30th in Kills
*NCAA Individuals in Nation:  Regina Thomas:  32nd in Blocks, 9th in Hitting %, Miranda Kitts:  118th in Blocks, Morgan Springer:  55th in Digs
*Best SEC Start since 1980
*Swept #12 LSU
*Undefeated at home
*Tied for 2nd overall in SEC and 1st in the SEC WEST
*Receiving votes in the top 25

Inspirational Teammate

Sophomore Courtney Cunningham

I wanted to take the time to share a story about a very motivational teammate we have at Ole Miss!  Courtney Cunningham, a sophomore MB/RS from Chicago, IL, suffered an ACL tear September 22nd at practice.  Ruby, as the team calls her, was a huge presence in our 6-2, playing RS and putting up a huge block.  Because of her injury, she was not able to travel with us for fear of her injury getting worse.

When an athlete is injured it becomes very easy for that player to get lost in their role on the team.  They are no longer going through the everyday battle of practice and matches, they have a different battle each day of rehab.  This player has to find their new role on the team and will the team accept it!

I can't be any prouder of a player that I have coached.  While we were on our trip to Florida and South Carolina, Ruby would text the team all through the day, whether we were at practice, pre-game meal, in between sets, she was ready to go!  Always with something very inspirational! 

Again, showing her strength as a leader on this team, she had surgery on Wednesday and because her pain medicine made her sick could not come to one of our biggest matches of the year against #12 LSU.  Ruby watched the whole match on TV and you better believe she called our athletic trainer in between sets 2 and 3 and wanted to be put on speakerphone as she yelled and motivated her teammates to "FINISH!!!"  

This is a lesson to any player that gets injured, find your role, find your way to become a leader just like Ruby did.  Our players wrote #10 on all their shoes and write it on their tape jobs, or hands, to always remember our inspirational leader, #10 Courtney Cunningham!  They even finish each practice and match with "Ruby, Ruby!!!"  She is a huge reason for our success this year, even though she can't do anything on the court!

Team Building

The preseason schedule for collegiate volleyball is tough.  The team is here for about 2.5 weeks doing 2-3 practices a day, film sessions, classroom sessions, individuals, weight lifting, and they fit in food and sleep somewhere!  Most college coaches do some team building throughout the preseason to get the team breaking barriers and coming together.  The mistake most coaches make is that team building ends at preseason!

We are very lucky to have great chemistry at Ole Miss!  Something this staff works very hard to keep and the team respects it enough to keep it going.  We learned a huge lesson this year and that is, it is not enough to do team building just during the preseason, we must do it all the time.

The biggest issue with any team is communication.  We are in an era where text messaging and facebook chatting is easier than having lunch with a teammate and talking about nothing.  Athletes don't talk to each other because they feel smaller issues don't want to become bigger issues so they bottle it inside and before you know it, they explode.   Athletes don't take the time with their teammates to really talk with them and get to know them.  What motivates them?  What are their biggest fears on the court?

Our lesson was learned after we played #23 Tennessee.  Our players had stopped talking to each other and let little things evolve into bigger issues and what became of that was a sweep by Tennessee!

We spent 3 hours on the bus to Kentucky figuring this out!  We did a little activity where each person had to talk about their greatest achievement, an obstacle they overcame and an obstacle they are trying to overcome at this moment.  It could be volleyball or off-the-court.  Each player listened and were allowed to ask questions.  Such an easy thing to do and when we got off the bus we broke some barriers with players and each one had a new respect for their teammates.

We encourage teams to continue to work on communication and team building.  Be proactive in the process, don't wait for the loss to try to figure it out!