Sept. 3, 2011
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Four Auburn players had double-digit kills, and Auburn rebounded after dropping the first set to take a 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19) win over Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon at the Blue Raider Bash.
Auburn (4-1) hit for their highest percentage of the season at .333 while holding Austin Peay (1-5) to a .220 hitting percentage. The Tigers also had 61 kills on the day to the Lady Govs' 48.
Leading the way was Vesela Zapryanova, who had her first career double-double with a career-high 12 kills and 13 digs; she hit .455 for the match and assisted on a pair of blocks as well. Camila Jersonsky continued to provide a spark on offense as she shared the team lead with Zapryanova with 12 kills; she had no errors on the day and hit at a .632 clip. Sarah Bullock and Kelly Fidero each had 10 kills, and Chelsea Wintzinger led the team with 28 assists. Courtney McDonald led the Tigers with a career-high five blocks to go along with seven kills.
The first set belonged to Austin Peay by a 25-19 count. In the set, the Tigers hit a respectable .300, but APSU went for a .429 clip. The Tigers led early at 7-5, but the Lady Govs went on a 6-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish in the game. Peay's lead increased to as much as 18-12 before Auburn tried to close the gap, getting as close at 22-18, but APSU would pull away to take the opening set.
Auburn took the second set 25-17, thanks to hitting a stellar .481 with 15 kills and just two errors. Despite the Lady Govs jumping out to a 3-0 lead and leading 9-7 later in the set, Auburn went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-9 lead after a pair of attack errors and a kill for Courtney McDonald. Kills from Fidero, Jersonsky and Bullock would help pad the Auburn lead as they would score the set's final three points to tie the match at the break.
It was more of the same for Auburn in the third set as the Tigers took a 25-22 win after climbing their way out of an early hole. The Tigers kept hitting well, swinging at a .333 clip and getting 18 of their 25 points on kills. Jersonsky had four of those and Zapryanova had three. Austin Peay led early and held the lead all the way until the later stages of the set when Auburn would finally take its first lead at 20-19. From there, the Tigers would win three of the next four rallies and put the set away on a huge kill from Bullock.
Auburn would hit just .233 in the fourth set, but it would be enough to outpace APSU's .067 mark and take a 25-19 decision to clinch the match. After jumping out to a 4-1 lead, Auburn would never trail in the frame with Fidero putting down four kills in the game, including the final play to give the Tigers their fourth straight victory.
The Tigers will return to action later tonight as they face tournament host Middle Tennessee. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.