Ole Miss Volleyball Opens Season Against No. 9 Georgia Tech

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss volleyball opens its 2022 season tonight as they play host No. 9 Georgia Tech as part of the Ole Miss Invitational. The first serve is set for 4 p.m.

The Rebels will take on a pair of top-20 opponents in No. 9 Georgia Tech Friday at 4 p.m. CT and No. 17 Illinois Sunday at 1 p.m.

Ole Miss is coming off one of their best seasons in school history, notching its first 20-win regular season since 2013 and finishing tied for fifth in the SEC with 10 conference victories.

Coach Kayla Banwarth and her staff return 12 members from last season’s NCAA Tournament team, including leading attacker and AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention outside hitter Anna Bair.

In the past two seasons under Banwarth the Rebels have had a 65 percent increase in winning percentage which is the best turnaround in D1 volleyball.

Georgia Tech comes into Oxford after a run to the Elite Eight with a 26-6 overall record. The Yellow Jackets have 13 players returning to the court, including reigning ACC player of the year and first team all-American Julia Bergmann, along with All-ACC Second Team selection Breland Morrissette and ACC All-Freshman Team member Bianca Bertolino. 

As a team, the Jackets hit .291 last season, the sixth-best mark nationally and led the country with 15.2 kills per set.

Today’s match will be the third-ever between the two schools. Ole Miss and Georgia Tech have split the first two matches.