Aug. 29, 2008
AUBURN - Samford hit a blazing .326, including a near-perfect third set, to hand Auburn a 3-0 (21-25, 22-25, 16-25) loss in its season opener at the War Eagle Invitational.
The Tigers (0-1) hit .174 in the match, picking up 35 kills on 92 attempts with 19 errors en route to the second home season-opening loss in the program's history. Auburn is now 11-12 all-time in season openers. With the win, the Bulldogs move to 1-0 on the season.
The match for the Tigers was the first under new head coach Wade Benson. Despite the loss, Benson says it is just another step in the rebuilding process for the program.
"It seemed like every rally we had tonight went their way, which is good for those guys and I've got my hat off to them," said Benson. "We're not putting our heads down at all. This is a process for us where wins and loses the first year are not what we are trying to obtain. We are looking at trying to get certain goals done and if we accomplish that goal tonight, we are going to be happy with the match."
Auburn senior Jessica Glover led all players in the match with 11 kills, hitting .154. Samford's Ashley Adams led the Bulldogs with 10 kills and a .357 attack percentage.
Defensively, it was Samford's Courtney Gay and Rachel Gadberry leading the way. Gay led all players with nine digs while Gadberry finished with four blocks.
For Auburn, it was sophomore Glover and junior Emily Knuth leading the team with eight digs each. Knuth was also Auburn's most efficient hitter, finishing with nine kills and a .333 attack percentage.
With youth and inexperience being big factors for the Tigers this season, Benson wasted no time going to his bench as 14 of the 16 players on the roster saw playing time in the match.
In the first set, Samford came out blazing, taking a 6-0 lead out of the gate, but Auburn bounced and out-scored the Bulldogs throughout the rest of the set, 21-19. But, the early six-point lead was enough for the Bulldogs as they cruised to a 25-21 win. Glover led Auburn in the set with six of her 11 kills.
Auburn and Samford stayed close throughout the second set with neither team ever trailing by more than four. The Tigers earned their first lead of the match at the 11-10 mark, but it did not last long as the Bulldogs re-gained the lead at 14-13 en route to the 25-22 win. Glover and Knuth had four kills each in the set.
After hitting .353 and .206, respectively, in the first two sets, Auburn hit a rough spell in the final set, hitting a paltry -.125. Auburn never led in the set as Samford finished with the 25-16 win and the 3-0 sweep. Knuth and Olympia Haney had two kills each in the set.
Now that the first match of the season is behind them, Benson says it is time to learn from their mistakes and move forward.
"We are not worried about this one," said Benson. "We are going to watch some film, learn from it and move forward. It is the beginning of the season and you are going to make some mistakes. Our youth needs to get seasoned and we are going to take it a little bit sometimes when that comes into play and that is ok."
Auburn's match was the second of the day at the War Eagle Invitational. New Orleans pulled out a 3-0 sweep over Samford in the tournament-opener.
Action in the tournament continues Saturday at 9 a.m. as the Tigers take on Mercer. New Orleans and Samford follow at 11:30 a.m. The final session of the tournament begins at 4 p.m. with Auburn taking on New Orleans, followed by Mercer and Samford in the tournament finale.
The tournament is taking place at the Student Activities Center and admission is free to all matches.