Nov. 25, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn volleyball team fought Georgia on Wednesday to five sets, falling 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-18, 12-15) in the regular season finale at the Student Activities Center. The Tigers conclude the season with a 16-15 overall record and 8-12 in the SEC.
"It was a good match and it was any team's win to take," Wade Benson, head volleyball coach, said. "I thought our team fought really hard, but couldn't come out on top."
Freshman Sarah Bullock and sophomore Christina Solverson each picked up their eighth double-double of the season. Bullock finished with 12 kills and 10 digs, while Solverson tallied 25 assists and 12 digs.
Junior Morgan Johns finished with a team-best 13 kills, while sophomore Kelly Fidero added 12 kills. Junior Liz Crouch had 17 digs and classmate Alyssa Davis had a team-best five blocks.
Erika Clark led the Bulldogs (17-14, 8-12) with 14 kills and finished with 16 digs. Libero Calra Tietz had a match-best 21 digs, while Briana Bahr and Valentina Gonzalez each picked up 12 kills. Gonzalez had a match-high nine blocks.
The Bulldogs grabbed a quick lead in the first set to go up 5-2.Georgia pushed its lead to go up 9-5, but a pair of kills by Katherine Culwell brought the Tigers within two at 10-8. A kill by Johns triggered a 4-1 Auburn run that gave the Tigers a slim 14-13 lead. Another Auburn run put the Tigers up 18-16, but the Bulldogs battled back to take a 22-20 lead. Auburn, however, put together a 5-1 rally to take the set 25-23.
In set two, kills from Johns and Bullock gave Auburn a 5-3 lead and another kill by Bullock and one from Davis put the Tigers up 7-4. A Georgia rally gave Bulldogs a slim advantage at 10-9 and the team held onto its lead throughout the middle of the set. A kill from Bullock sparked an Auburn three-point rally to tie the set at 17, but another Georgia run solidified the Bulldog 25-21 win.
A Tiger error and a service ace put Georgia up 5-3 early in the third set and a Bulldog run pushed the visitors to a 13-8 advantage. Kills from Jonelle Wallace and Courtney McDonald brought Auburn within five at 22-17, but the Bulldogs took the set, 25-18.
Auburn took a quick 6-2 lead in the fourth set and kills by Culwell and Johns and a service ace from MacKenzy Harper gave the Tigers a 10-4 advantage. Kills by Davis and McDonald gave Auburn its largest lead at 17-8 and a pair of Tiger blocks made the score 20-11. Georgia rallied to cut the score to five at 21-16, but Auburn closed out the set with a 25-18 win.
In the final set, Georgia jumped out to a 5-3 lead and took its largest lead at 9-5. The Tigers came within two on a kill by Culwell at 11-9, but the Bulldogs battled to take the match with a 15-12 win.