Nov. 11, 2012

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 OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss volleyball team fought valiantly against No. 16 Florida on Sunday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Center, holding 22-22 ties in each of the first two sets against the Southeastern Conference's top team. The Rebels (10-15, 4-12 SEC) couldn't put the Gators away though, and fell 3-0 (22-25, 22-25, 17-25).

Senior setter Amanda Philpot recorded her 11th double-double of the season for the Rebels, tallying team highs of 26 assists and 11 digs. It is Philpot's second straight match with a double-double, and her fifth double-double in the last seven matches. Freshman middle blocker Ty Laporte led Ole Miss offensively with a team-high 10 kills on a .471 attacking clip.

"It was a gritty performance against a very talented Florida team," Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said. "I'm proud of the way the kids competed today. That's something that we've been talking about, is competing. I thought they did that well today."

The Rebels hit at a .464 clip in the match's opening set, led by four kills each from Laporte and Morgan, including a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage from Laporte. Philpot passed out a dozen assists in the set and freshman defensive specialist Evan St. Laurent had five digs.

There were nine ties and six lead changes in the first set, with Florida's four-point advantage at 13-9 being the largest lead the entire set. Ole Miss rallied to tie the match at 14-14, and twice again later, including at 22-22. The Gators (21-4, 15-1 SEC) finished out the set on a 3-0 run, however, and won the opening frame 25-22.

The second set produced similar results, as the two teams had nine ties. Laporte and senior right side hitter Allegra Wells each had five kills in the set, as Philpot passed out 11 assists and senior libero Ashley Veach had five digs.

The two teams again battled tightly, and found themselves tied at 22-22, but Florida again scored the set's final three points and won 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

"It was 22-22 in both (of the first two) sets," Getzin said. "We didn't make a couple of plays that we needed to make down the stretch. To get to that point, we had to fight and claw."

Florida took the final set 25-17, led by freshman outside hitter ÂÂÂÂÂŽiva Recek's six digs. The two-time reigning SEC Freshman of the Week finished with a match-high 15 digs for the Gators.

Ole Miss hits the road next week for the final time this season. The Rebels will face intrastate rival Mississippi State on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT, and Arkansas on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

For all Ole Miss volleyball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB and on Facebook at Ole Miss Volleyball.

Ole Miss Head Coach Joe Getzin