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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Samford
Ole Miss Claims Magnolia Invitational
9/11/2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2010
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Rebels came out and made a statement in the final match of the Magnolia Invitational on Saturday as Ole Miss (6-3) swept past Samford (6-5) by a score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20) to claim the tournament title.
It is the fourth consecutive Magnolia Invitational title for the Rebels who have won each tournament dating back to the 2007 season. Ole Miss won all three matches it played on the weekend with a win over Southern Miss on Friday night and a win over Louisiana earlier in the day on Saturday.
Allegra Wells paced the Rebels against the Bulldogs with 11 kills and hit .348, while Regina Thomas put down nine kills and hit .727 with six blocks. Miranda Kitts put down three blocks and six kills on the night.
Kitts was named Tournament MVP, while Thomas and Ashley Veach were also named to the All-Tournament team.
"Tonight we came out and played at a consistent level after two tough matches earlier in the tournament," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. "It was nice to see we still had something in the tank.
"The difference tonight from our previous two matches was our execution," Getzin said. "We really cleaned things up in this match. Miranda Kitts came up with some big plays in crucial moments and we really cleaned up our blocking."
Ole Miss out-blocked Samford 11.0 to 2.0 on the night.
It was a back-and-forth start to the match as both Samford and Ole Miss fought to control the tempo in the first set. Neither team could put the other away until the Rebels finally came up with a quick burst of points at the end of set to pull ahead. With the score knotted at 20, Ole Miss got a kill from Kara Morgan to break the stalemate and put the Rebels up for good on the way to the 25-21 win.
The second set was as nip and tuck as the first, with the two teams trading scores early before Ole Miss would use a Kitts kill to snap a 12-12 tie. The Rebels never trailed again in the frame as Ole Miss would push the rest of the way to a 25-20 win in the second set.
The third set was never in question as Ole Miss moved out to an early 3-0 lead and never trailed. The biggest lead for the Rebels came at 21-15 on the way to a 25-20 win in the third set to give Ole Miss the match and the tournament title.
The Rebels will continue to play at home when Ole Miss opens Southeastern Conference play on Friday, Sept. 17 against the Alabama Crimson Tide at 7 p.m. Ole Miss will also host Mississippi State that weekend with a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. in a contest televised by Cox Sports.
