UNIVERSITY RELEASE — Originally published by Ole Miss Athletics, Sept. 15, 2026.
Ole Miss won the first set by 12 and did not win another. The Rebels fell 3-1 to Memphis on Tuesday night at Elma Roane Fieldhouse, with the fourth set going 30-28 to the Tigers after Ole Miss had erased four match points. Ole Miss drops to 6-3 (0-0 SEC); Memphis moves to 3-6 (0-0 American).
Set Scores
Memphis 3, Ole Miss 1 — 13-25, 25-18, 25-16, 30-28
Who Did It
- Jorda Crook — 18 kills, nine digs, five blocks and two aces
- Shayla Meyer — nine kills, an ace and a block
- Melia Johnson — eight kills
- Jaidyn Hartsfield — seven kills and a block, all of it off the bench
How It Went
The opener was the best volleyball Ole Miss played all night. A 6-0 run built a 7-3 lead, Crook and Melia Johnson had five kills each inside the first stretch, and Vivianna Samaniego’s serving pushed it to 17-7. Aces from Meyer and Crook closed it out 25-13, with the Rebels hitting .344 in the frame.
Memphis answered immediately in the second. Ole Miss led 8-7 before a 9-0 Tiger run made it 16-8, and while a 5-1 Rebel stretch that included a triple block cut the gap to 21-17, Memphis finished it 25-18.
The third followed the same shape. Crook’s early kills had Ole Miss ahead 10-7, but Memphis was up 15-14 at the media timeout and then, off a Rebel service error, ran eight straight points to take the set 25-16.
The fourth was the one that got away. Hartsfield came off the bench for four kills and a block to build a 6-3 lead, and Ole Miss still had it at 12-9 before Memphis chipped in. The Tigers went ahead 17-16 and reached match point at 24-20. Ole Miss won four straight from there — Crook supplying a kill and blocks — to tie it at 24-24, and the two traded match points before Memphis finally closed it 30-28.
Memphis finished with 54 kills to the Rebels’ 47 and hit .204 to Ole Miss’ .163. The Tigers also edged the block count 9 to 8.5 and the ace count 6 to 4.
Up Next
Ole Miss opens the Jayhawk Classic against No. 22 Kansas on Friday at 6 p.m. CT in Lawrence, streaming on ESPN+.
📄 Read the full university release: Volleyball Drops Road Match at Memphis → (OleMissSports.com)