Rebel volleyball team comes home, finally

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The Lady Rebels will host Georgia tonight at 7 in their long awaited 2000 home opener at the Gillom Sports Complex.

After spending nearly all of September on the road, Ole Miss will play four straight home matches to open October. Following Friday's match with the Lady Bulldogs, the Lady Rebels will host SEC foes Florida on Sunday, Alabama on Friday and Auburn on Oct. 8.

After defeating Arkansas State, 3-0, on Tuesday, Ole Miss (7-7, 0-2) will be looking for its first conference win of the season against Georgia (8-5, 1-1). The Lady Rebels opened the 2000 conference season with consecutive losses at Tennessee (3-1) and Kentucky (3-2). Georgia defeated Auburn on the road, before falling at Alabama to open their SEC season.

Ole Miss will be looking for seniors Kira Zschau and Renata Nowacki to continue leading the team. Zschau, an outside hitter, recorded 35 kills and 27 digs in the losses to Tennessee and Kentucky, while Nowacki recorded 81 assists in the two matches. In Tuesday's win over the Lady Indians, Zschau collected 13 kills and 13 digs and Nowacki posted 36 assists.

Ole Miss is hoping to regain the services of sophomore middle blocker Sarah Lansden and junior outside hitter Jaime Burns this weekend. Lansden has missed the last three matches after being hospitalized for six days with abdominal pain. Burns has missed playing time the last two matches while nursing shin splints and tendonitis in her right knee.