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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
0-1
UTSA
1-0
Thomas, Wells Pace Rebs In Loss To UT-San Antonio
8/27/2010 | Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2010
HOUSTON, Texas - Regina Thomas and Allegra Wells paced the Rebels with solid outings in the first match of the season, but it wasn't enough to pick up the win as Ole Miss (0-1) fell to UT-San Antonio (1-0) by a score of 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 32-34, 17-25, 18-20).
Thomas hit a team-leading .400 with 15 kills and four blocks on the afternoon, while Wells led the Rebels with 16 kills and hit .355 with five blocks against the Roadrunners. Whitney Craven led the Ole Miss defense with a career-high 24 digs as one of three Rebels in double-digits in the category. Morgan Springer came up with 17 digs, while Kara Morgan added 12 digs.
The match opened with the two teams trading score back and forth before Ole Miss found a rhythm and put together a run on the way to a three point lead at 10-7. That advantage would be all the Rebels needed as Ole Miss would ride the arm of Courtney Cunningham as the sophomore hit .600 for the set and put down the clinching kill of the set to give the Rebels the first frame.
Ole Miss fell behind early in the second set, seeing the Roadrunners stake a four point lead out of the gates. The Rebels fought back behind the offense of Thomas and Wells, chipping away at the lead before knotting the set at 14 points each. Ole Miss then put together another small run before UT-San Antonio would reclaim the lead at 20-19. The Rebels used one last run to push back ahead before claiming the second set 25-21 and taking a two set lead.
The third set turned into a marathon as Ole Miss sought to close out the match and UT-San Antonio fought to stay alive. A nip and tuck battle from the start, neither team took much of a lead until the Roadrunners moved ahead by three at 20-17. Ole Miss responded, though, fighting off set point at 24-23 to move into the lead with a pair of quick scores.
The Rebels would get to match point four times from there and couldn't convert, but fought off four set points for UT-San Antonio as well before the Texas team made its move. Tied at 32, the Roadrunners used a kill and a service ace to grab the third set 34-32.
Ole Miss took the early lead in the fourth frame, but it vanished quickly as UT-San Antonio used a quick run to snap a 9-9 tie and move into the lead for good. The Rebels would cut it back to one at 12-11, but could get no closer as the Roadrunners claimed the fourth set 25-17.
The fifth set saw the Rebels fight back from a five point deficit early at 8-3 to tie things up at 12 points each. Ole Miss went up 14-13 with a mini run, but could not put the scrappy UT-San Antonio team away. The Rebels pushed out to match point five times after fighting back but couldn't convert. Leading 18-17, the Rebels committed two errors around a Roadrunner kill as UT-San Antonio claimed the match with a 20-18 win in the fifth set.
Ole Miss will return to action at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday when the Rebels continue play at the Rice Invitational against Texas Tech. It will be the first of two matches as Ole Miss will close out the tournament against the hosting Rice Owls at 7:30 p.m.
