UNIVERSITY RELEASE — Originally published by Ole Miss Athletics, Sept. 19, 2026.
The first set was the best volleyball Ole Miss played all weekend. It did not last. The Rebels hit .375 and took the opener 25-16, then lost the next three to Grand Canyon and the match 3-1 on Saturday in the Jayhawk Classic. Ole Miss closes the weekend 0-2 and falls to 6-5 on the season.
Set Scores
Grand Canyon 3, Ole Miss 1 — 16-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-22
Who Did It
- Shayla Meyer — 14 kills and 12 digs
- Jorda Crook — 11 kills, six digs and three blocks
- Melia Johnson — 10 kills and 10 digs
- Ryea Jackson — 10 kills on .750 hitting with two blocks, from a freshman
- Jaidyn Hartsfield — two kills and an ace off the bench
How It Went
Ole Miss controlled the first set from the start, building an 11-4 lead and carrying a 15-10 edge into the technical timeout with the offense spread across the rotation. The Rebels closed it 25-16 hitting .375.
Grand Canyon flipped it in the second with an early 5-1 run. Ole Miss stayed inside striking distance and Meyer answered with three kills through the middle stretch, but the Lopes never gave the lead back and took the set 25-20.
The third decided the match. Grand Canyon opened on a 7-0 run and pushed it to 17-7. Hartsfield gave the Rebels a jolt off the bench with a pair of kills and an ace, but the gap never closed, and the Lopes finished it 25-14.
The fourth was the one that got away. Down 12-7, Ole Miss climbed all the way back to 18-18 behind Crook, Meyer and Jackson. Grand Canyon answered with a 3-0 run and closed it out 25-22.
Ole Miss actually out-killed Grand Canyon 54-50 and won the assist and ace counts, 50-49 and 5-4. The difference was the error column: 25 attack errors for the Rebels against 11 for the Lopes, which left Ole Miss hitting .230 to Grand Canyon’s .336. The Lopes also edged the block battle, 7-6.
Up Next
SEC play opens on the road. Ole Miss visits Alabama on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
📄 Read the full university release: Volleyball Drops Match Against Grand Canyon → (OleMissSports.com)