Sept. 13, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Facing a ranked opponent for the first time this season, a young Auburn volleyball team (5-6) was able to battle, taking No. 25 Michigan (9-0) to four sets in the 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 23-25, 11-25) loss at the Michigan Pepsi Challenge.
Michigan claims the tournament title with a perfect 3-0 record while Auburn and Toledo tie for second.
Head coach Wade Benson was pleased with his team's development throughout the weekend, especially the attitude they came in with against their first ranked opponent of the season.
"Whenever you play a top-25 team, it is always interesting to see how your kids respond, especially with the youth we have this season," said Benson. "I was proud of the way our kids responded, winning set two with a chance to win the third set. In the fourth set, we just ran out of gas, but it was good to see how we battled to the end of the match."
Senior Jessica Glover led the Tigers with 11 kills and a team-high six blocks in the match. Olympia Haney followed with eight kills and a team-best .316 hitting percentage while Lauren Mellor, Jonelle Wallace and Kelly Fidero chipped in six kills each. Haney and Wallace also posted four blocks each in the match.
Nine different Tigers got at least one kills in the match, spreading out the Auburn offense. The defense was also a team effort as nine different Tigers had at least one dig. In all, 15 of Auburn's 17 roster players saw action in the match.
Liz Crouch led the Auburn defense with a match-high 14 digs. Freshmen Chanelle Clark followed with six digs in the loss.
Four different Wolverines hit in double figures with Beth Karpiak leading the team with 15. Kerry Hance led the defense with 11 digs while Karlee Bruck added six blocks.
For their efforts over the weekend, Glover and Fidero represented Auburn on the all-tournament team. Glover finished with 25 kills, 30 digs and seven blocks. Fidero tallied 24 kills, seven digs and two blocks.
"There are a few players that could have gotten the honors for us this weekend, but Jess and Kelly really stepped up in some key spots for us," said Benson. "I think Jess showed why she is one of the top players in the SEC and Kelly continued developing throughout the tournament and ended up having some solid matches for us."
Auburn returns home for its next match, opening Southeastern Conference play with Arkansas (3-7). Action in "Pack the Act" night is set to begin at 6 p.m. in Auburn's Student Activities Center. SEC action continues on Sunday as the Tigers take on Ole Miss (3-6) at 1:30 p.m.
Michigan tore out of the gate in the first set, taking a quick 7-1 lead. Auburn did not let down, coming right back to cut the lead to one after a 7-2 run. Michigan was able to extend its lead back to five at the 13-8 mark, a buffer Auburn would maintain until the 19-14 mark when a 6-3 Wolverine run sealed the 25-17 win.
Mellor and Fidero had three kills each in the set for Auburn while Clark and Mellor posted two digs each.
Auburn scored the first point in the second set on a Wallace-Glover block and went on to lead throughout most of the set. Michigan took its biggest lead at the 15-13 mark, but the team's traded control until a tie at the 22-22 point in the set. From there, it was a Mellor kill, Crouch ace and a Michigan error that sealed the 25-22 Auburn win.
The Tigers hit a blazing .367 in the set, riding the back of four kills each from Glover and Haney. Auburn also had four blocks in the set with Glover coming in on two of them. Crouch led defensively with six digs.
Auburn again scored first in the third set, but Michigan bounced right back to take a 9-3 lead, eventually extending it to eight at the 19-11 point. Down 23-14, Auburn came back to mount its most impressive comeback of the season.
Just two points away from losing the set, the Tigers scored seven straight points to cut the lead to two at the 23-21 mark. But, needing just two points to close out the set, the Wolverines were able to capitalize on an Auburn error and a kill for the 25-21 win.
Fidero, Wallace and Haney each had three kills in the set while Auburn racked up five blocks as a team. Haney and Glover were in on three blocks each. Crouch chipped in four digs for the Auburn defensive effort.
Michigan came out determined to get the win in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead that quickly turned into a 16-6 advantage. The Wolverines kept on rolling through the rest of the set, cruising to a 25-11 win.
Auburn mustered only eight kills in the set with five coming from Glover. Crouch led the team with three digs.