Lauren Thompson led the Rebel attack, notching a career-high 19 kills as Ole Miss volleyball picked up a 3-1 win over LSU and defended its home court Thursday night at the Gillom Center.
Thompson was one of three Rebels with 10-plus kills in the match. Sophomores Anna Bair and Sasha Ratliff had a strong night at the net, registering 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Ratliff was also a presence on defense, adding a team-high six blocks. Setter Kylee McLaughlin assisted on over 90 percent of the Rebels points, dishing out 43 total assists on the night.
Ole Miss (18-6, 7-6 SEC) and LSU (10-13, 6-8 SEC) went back-and-forth early in the first set before the Rebels started cruising. A McLaughlin and Ratliff block capped off a 7-1 run and forced the Tigers to take a timeout down 15-10. Bair and Thompson made sure the Rebels hung on to their five-point lead for the remainder of set one, winning it 25-19.
The Tigers bounced back to take set two, 25-17, after leading most of the way. With both teams even at a set each, Ole Miss and LSU duked it out in a closely contested third set that featured 14 ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points, but Ole Miss and its attacking trio stepped up down the stretch. With the Tigers eying victory, Bair came up with the game-tying kill to knot things up at 24 and followed it up with back-to-back kills to take the set.
With the momentum on their side of the court, the Rebels closed out the fourth set with ease. Taking advantage of a few early attacking errors from LSU, they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, finishing out the match with a 25-19 set victory. Thompson led the charge, tallying six kills alone in the set to set her career-high for the second straight match.
Ole Miss will look to go for the series sweep against the Tigers on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT, hoping to win its third consecutive match over LSU for the first time since 2015-16.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
