Sept. 21, 2008
AUBURN - Senior Jessica Glover hit .256 with 14 kills and seven digs, but it was not enough to carry the Auburn volleyball team (5-8, 0-2 SEC) to a win over visiting Ole Miss (3-6, 1-0 SEC). The Rebels were able to come in and take the 3-0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-21) sweep over the Tigers, closing out the opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play.
Despite the loss, head coach Wade Benson was able to find positives in the fact that Auburn was in the heat of the battle in each of the three sets, even taking the first to extra points.
"We had plenty of opportunities to win this match but I think we earned a lot of respect," said Benson. "Now we have to work on our ability to close out these kind of matches."
Auburn held late leads in the first two sets of the match, but were not able to hold off the rallying Rebels for the wins.
"Attitude, better leadership and a responsibility in practice is what we need to win games," said Benson. "We need to push hard in close matches and we need to make sure we are growing with every touch we have in practice and not take practice time lightly. No one is going to give us anything, we have to work hard and make it happen."
Twelve different Auburn players saw action in the match with 10 Tigers recording at least one kill. Freshman Chanelle Clark followed Glover with seven kills while Kelly Fidero and Lauren Mellor contributed four each.
Defensively, sophomore libero Liz Crouch led the team with 15 digs, followed by junior Emily Knuth with 12. Setter Sara Shanks tallied 24 assists in the match, chipping in three kills and six digs.
For Ole Miss, Caitlin Weiss led the Rebels with 16 kills while libero Allison Weber posted a team-high 13 digs. Also coming up big on the defensive side for Ole Miss was Regina Thomas as she came up with eight blocks in the match, two of which were solo blocks.
In the first set, Auburn took the early lead and held a four-point advantage at the 19-15 mark. But, Ole Miss came right back with four straight points to tie the match, making it a sprint to the finish and the 27-25 win.
Auburn again led by four at the 19-15 point in the second set, but this time it was a 5-1 Ole Miss run that tied the set. The team's battled to a 23-23 tie, but back-to-back service aces by Weiss sealed the 25-23 Rebel win.
Ole Miss rode that momentum into the third set and built an early 14-8 lead. Auburn battled back and tied the set at 20-20, but Morgan Spring served Ole Miss through a 5-1 run for the 25-21 win.
Auburn continues its SEC schedule this week with its first conference road trip, traveling to in-state rival Alabama and Mississippi State.
"It is going to be a new challenge for us," said Benson. "It is our first SEC road trip and it will be interesting to see how we respond to that type of atmosphere."
Action begins at 7 p.m., Friday at the Coleman Auxiliary Volleyball Extension in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and continues at 1:30 p.m., Sunday at MSU's Newell-Grissom Building.