Oct. 9, 2005
Oxford, Miss. - Playing its second match in the Magnolia state in three days, Auburn and Ole Miss played three close games, but the Rebels were victorious to capture the team's first SEC win of the season, 30-24, 30-27, 30-26. Auburn dropped to 7-7, 1-5 SEC and Ole Miss improved to 7-11 (1-5 SEC).
Senior Jennifer Amobi led the Tigers offense with 15 kills on 46 attempts and seven digs. Sophomore Rachel Shanks also posted double-digit kills with 12 on 19 attempts for an attack percentage of .526. Two Tiger defenders recorded 12 digs - Alison Jacobs and Bailey Veit and Jelena Sekulic had 11 for the second straight match.
"On Friday night I thought Mississippi State had a great game plan against us and they executed it well," head coach Laura Farina said. "I think we were a little shook by their serving and were never able to adapt to that. Today our effort was good but our execution was just off. We tried two different lineups hoping to get some production out of Jelena and Rachel. But again our passing game was off."
"We have several people playing out of the roles that they were trained to play and I think that puts pressure on them to think that they have to play perfect. Right now we just have to get back to passing better and serving tougher. I think if every player takes half a step forward in learning their new responsibilities then we will get to where we want to be in the SEC."
The Rebels started off strong with six consecutive points before the time out was called. Auburn finally got on the board at 7-1 off an error by Ole Miss. Auburn fought through and closed the gap to four at 28-24, but Ole Miss reeled off two more kills to take the first game, 30-24. Auburn managed a .273 hitting percentage with 15 kills on 33 attempts but the Rebels hit .400.
With more than eight ties during the second game, the Tigers and Rebels battled from the beginning. Auburn had the one point advantage at 19-18, before Ole Miss drilled out five consecutive points and kept the momentum throughout the remainder of the game before closing it out at 30-27.
Auburn started out the third game strong and held the lead at 8-5 but would not see the advantage again as Ole Miss finished strong and closed out the match in game three, 30-26. Game three saw eight ties before the Rebels took the lead at 16-14 and never trailed again.
For the match, Auburn turned in a .244 hitting percentage to Ole Miss' .341. The Tigers had nine fewer kills as a team than the Rebels and each team had five aces.
Auburn returns home to face SEC foes Tennessee and South Carolina on Oct. 14 and 16 in the Student Activities Center.