Ole Miss volleyball falls to No. 14 Creighton in NCAA tournament
OMAHA, Neb. (Ole Miss Athletics) – Playing in its first NCAA Tournament match in 11 years, Ole Miss volleyball left it all on the floor. The Rebels battled, but in the end, fell to No. 14 Creighton 3-0 Thursday night inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
“It definitely ends earlier than we wanted it to, but I don’t think a lot of people were expecting us to even be here at the end of the year,” said head coach Kayla Banwarth. “For me, it’s very special, and it’s a testament to how hard these athletes have worked all year and how much they’ve bought into the vision of Ole Miss volleyball. I’m very pound of what we’ve done this year. This is a great stepping stone for our program in terms of what we want to build into. I’m very thankful for our athletes and their hard work.”
The loss brought an end to the collegiate careers of seniors Aubrey Sultemeier, Lauren Thompson, Kylee McLaughlin and Sam Burgio, a group who helped Ole Miss record one of the best turnarounds in the sport.
Anna Bair led the attack with 10 kills, followed by Sasha Ratliff and Thompson with seven kills each. Setter McLaughlin tallied 28 assists on the night.
Ole Miss (21-9, 10-8 SEC) shook off some early jitters in the opening points of the match after Creighton (31-3, 16-2 Big East) took a 10-6 lead thanks to some hot hitting. Once the Rebels settled in, they used a 4-1 run featuring two kills from Bair to pull within two at 12-14. Ole Miss was able to keep things close down the stretch, but Creighton held on to take the opening set 25-21.
A back-and-forth battle ensued in the early moments of set two as Ole Miss and Creighton matched each other point for point. The set featured multiple marathon rallies with both teams flying around the court out of system. Tied at 12, Creighton was finally able to get some breathing room and eventually run away with the set, taking it 25-15.
The Rebels continued to battle from behind, erasing a seven-point deficit to bring the score to 8-10. Unfortunately, just as Ole Miss found an answer, Creighton adjusted and rattled off another 10-2 run. The Bluejays went on to win the match with a 25-13 set victory.
