Sept. 9, 2006
MOBILE, Ala. -
The Auburn University volleyball team swept Southeastern Louisiana, 3-0 (30-21, 30-14, 30-16) and South Alabama (30-24, 30-10, 30-20) to take the Jaguar Challenge title on Saturay, Sept. 9 in Mobile, Ala. The wins improved the Tigers to 8-3 on the season.
Freshman Whitney Hobbs led AU with 12 kills, while sophomore Marissa Fields added a career-high 14 digs.
"I am very proud of how our team managed the competition this weekend," head coach Laura Farina said. "We were able to utilize a lot of our players and to see how they respond to their roles and to competition."
In game one, the Tigers and Lions battled back-and-forth with each team taking turns holding the lead. With the score tied at 18, AU went on a 9-0 run and took the game, 30-21.
Auburn used a 10-0 run in game two to grab an early lead and followed that with a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Tigers took the game 30-14.
Game three belonged to AU as the Tigers dominated play over a stretch of 11 straight points. The Lions were down by as many as 17 and never recovered, losing 30-16.
Auburn found itself down 11-9 in game one before roaring back with a 9-0 run to take control of the frame, and eventually win 30-24.
AU used a 14-1 run to begin game two and never looked back. The Jaguars seemed helpless to stop the Tiger offense that hit .531 in game two led by Golver's seven kills, and cruised to a 30-10 victory.
The Tigers kept rolling along in game three as the squad took a 7-1 lead to begin the third and cruised to a 30-20 win.
Whitney Jacob and Joanna Pappas were named to the All-Tournament Team, and Rachel Shanks was named MVP.
The Tigers will begin conference play next weekend as they travel to play South Carolina on Friday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. and Georgia on Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.