Sept. 6, 2008
MACON, Ga. - Auburn had to go all five sets, but it paid off as the Tigers earned the 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 15-12) win over Georgia Southern in the final match of the Mercer Bear Brawl. Auburn finishes the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after Friday's wins over Bethune-Cookman and Presbyterian, improving to 3-4 on the season.
With the win, Auburn earns at least a share of the tournament title. Georgia Southern falls to 3-3 on the season with the loss, posting a 1-2 tournament record.
"We lost that first set, but came back to take the next two to give ourselves a chance, which was pretty impressive," said head coach Wade Benson. "The bench came up big for us down the stretch with Milena Bukinac stepping up and Chanelle Clark doing a great job, even though the stat sheet does not show it."
Fourteen of Auburn's 16 players on the roster saw action in the match with nine different players picking up a kill in the match.
Three Tigers finished with double-figure kills, led by senior Jessica Glover with a season-high 19. She was also second on the team in digs with 16. Sophomore transfer Jonelle Wallace trailed with 16 kills, but turned in a match-best .419 attack percentage.
"Jess and Jonelle did a great job for us all weekend," said Benson. "They did a nice job of leading this team in here, coming off of some losses to finish with three-straight wins."
Bukinac, who Share's Benson's Wally Joyner award for her work coming off the bench, finished third on the team with 10 kills and a .269 attack percentage. She also chipped in seven digs and two aces in the match.
Defensively, Auburn was led by sophomore libero Liz Crouch as she posted 18 digs in the match. Clark also posted double-digit digs, finishing third on the team with 11.
"Liz Crouch and Jonelle Wallace were the defensive and offensive heroes of the team this week, they did a great job throughout the tournament," said Benson.
Crouch led the team in the three tournament matches with 40 digs, averaging 3.64 per set. Wallace finished the weekend with an impressive .508 attack percentage and a team-leading 34 kills, averaging 3.09 per set.
Auburn stays on the road this week and returns to action Tuesday with a 7 p.m. match at in-state rival Troy.
Despite hitting .361 as a team in the opening set, it was Georgia Southern coming away with the 25-21 win. The Eagles were near perfect in the set, posting only one error for a .425 attack percentage. Auburn scored first on a Glover kill, but GSU quickly took the lead at the 6-5 mark and never gave it up en route to the win.
Wallace was error-free in the set, posting a team-best six kills on nine attempts for Auburn. Glover was right behind her with five kills and five digs. Crouch also tallied five digs in the set.
The Tigers evened things up in the second set, taking a 25-23 victory on the back of six kills by Glover. Defensively, it was Crouch coming up with seven digs in the set to lead Auburn.
The set was in a dead heat throughout with neither team ever taking a large lead. Auburn's biggest lead came at the 16-13 mark, but GSU rallied back to tie it at 20-20. After briefly trailing, the Tigers were able to take the lead again for the win, capitalizing on costly Georgia Southern errors.
Wallace was perfect with eight kills and no errors in the third set, leading Auburn to a 25-23 win. The Tigers did not come by the win easy as they were able to overcome a .355 Georgia Southern attack percentage in earning the win.
Auburn scored first and was able to quickly build a 10-5 lead in the set. But, the Eagles did not back down and cut the lead to one at the 22-21 mark. Wallace stepped up in the final stretch, picking up two of Auburn's final three kills for the win.
Georgia Southern rallied back in the fourth set, holding Auburn to only seven kills in the set. Glover led Auburn with three kills and five digs in the loss.
The teams stayed even through the first portion of the set, but a 6-1 Eagle run gave Georgia Southern a 14-7 lead it would not relinquish en route to the 25-16 win.
It was Bukinac stepping up in the fifth and final set to help give Auburn its third win of the season. The Serbian led the team with three kills, four digs and an ace as she served out the final three points for the Tigers in the 15-12 win.