Sept. 1, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn volleyball team improved to 4-0 on the season after topping Mercer, 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-14), at the Student Activities Center Wednesday night. A total of 16 Tigers saw playing time in the victory.
"We wanted to try a lot of different lineups and got a lot of people some playing time tonight," head coach Wade Benson said. "The depth is really starting to show as we had three different lineups going on in three different sets. In the next two weeks, we'll be seeing some new names doing some big things and that is really exciting for this team."
Senior Jonelle Wallace led all attackers with 10 kills, while junior Kelly Fidero finished with nine. Freshman setter Chelsea Wintzinger recorded the first double-double of her career, finishing with 16 assists and 10 digs.
"It's been great to get some experience out there as a freshman," Wintzinger said. "I'm still trying to get more accustomed to college play, being vocal and a leader on the court. As a freshman, it is still my job as a setter to be a leader so that is something I continue to work on."
Rachel Urbelis led Mercer (0-5) with seven kills and 12 digs, while Bridget Sheerin had 12 assists and Amie Frutchey tallied seven kills.
The Bears capitalized on a handful of early Tiger errors to jump out to a 5-3 in set one. Auburn answered with four kills from four different Tigers to take its first lead at 10-8. Mercer battled back to tie the set at 15 apiece and the two squads exchanged points through the middle part of the set. Locked at 19 each, a pair of kills from Wallace and Sarah Bullock pushed the Tigers ahead and the home team fought to take the 26-24 first set win.
Two kills by Wallace gave Auburn a quick 2-0 lead and a pair of Mercer attack errors kept Auburn up at 7-5 in the second set. A kill from sophomore Katherine Culwell gave the Tigers their largest lead of the set, 15-10, and a kill by freshman Camila Jersonsky pushed Auburn to a 20-17 advantage. At 22-21 Auburn, a kill by senior Alyssa Davis and a service ace from Christina Solverson triggered a final Auburn run as the Tigers went on to a 25-22 win.
A kill from Fidero and redshirt freshman Chloe Rowand put the Tigers up early at 5-2 in the final set and a kill by senior Morgan Johns set off a 9-1 Auburn run to make the score 16-8. Another kill from Johns and one from Jersonsky gave the Tigers a 23-12 advantage and Auburn finished out the match with a 25-14 set-three victory.
Auburn returns to action Sept. 3-5 as the Tigers travel to the Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. The Tigers will face four teams during the three-day tournament: Miami, Duke, Middle Tennessee and Southern Miss.