Nov. 23, 2011
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AUBURN - The Auburn volleyball team sent the Tigers' two seniors - Kelly Fidero and Christina Solverson - out in style as they defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) in the final match of the season for both teams Wednesday night at the Student Activities Center.
Auburn (11-19, 5-15 SEC) avenged the season's earlier loss to Georgia (11-19, 7-13 SEC), and the Tigers have now defeated the Bulldogs three out of the last four meetings.
"We kind of struggled throughout the middle part of the year," Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. "But we talked a lot today about just coming out with a lot of energy and using the emotion of the night for the seniors. We did a good job of serving and keeping them back on their heels. It was good to see us come out ready to play."
All three sets were closely contested; the lead changed hands five times in the first two sets and six times in the final game. In the match, the score was tied a total of 30 times; however, the Tigers managed to close out the Bulldogs each time.
"Every game was really tight all the way to about 18 or 20," Nold said. "To see us, at that point, make steps and come together defensively, I thought we did a good job of making adjustments on those points to get a little edge."
Senior Kelly Fidero went out on a high note, sharing the team lead with nine kills on 32 attacks. She finished one kill shy of her second double-double of the season as she racked up 10 digs on the night. She also helped on three of the Tigers' 11 blocks on the night. Fellow senior Christina Solverson earned the start at setter and led the Tigers with 20 assists in the match along with a kill and three digs.
"Tini did a great job distributing the ball," Nold said. "She was really able to keep their block off-balance. And it was good to see Kelly come out with two blocks and a kill to end the match. They've had a great career, and they've had a lot to do with the success the program has had recently. It was lucky for me to have the two of them (for my first season)."
Solverson took a moment to reflect on her career and ending the season with a victory.
"It's really nice to sum up - for me - my career," Solverson said, "for the team, to end on a good note and get that good start for next season. I'm really going to miss my teammates. I've just become such good friends with them. We really are a family here at Auburn and it shows."
Junior Brittney Rhude shared the team lead with Fidero with nine kills of her own, hitting a team-best .615 with just one error in 13 attacks. Sophomore Chloe Rowand also had a strong night to close out the year, posting seven kills on 11 attacks for a .545 hitting percentage; she also had a team-best and matched a career-high with six blocks. Junior MacKenzy Harper got the start at libero and led the team with 18 digs.
Georgia was led by Kathleen Luft's 11 kills. Allison Summers had 19 digs and Kathleen Gates led the Bulldogs with 33 assists.
The Tigers had 45 kills to Georgia's 38 and out-hit the Bulldogs .287 to .170. Auburn won the digs battle 41-38 and was the better serving team with three aces - two from Harper - to go along with eight errors. Auburn was exceptional at the net with 11 blocks to Georgia's four.
Neither team could pull away in the opening set as the teams traded sideouts 33 times. Georgia finally pulled ahead to a 14-12 lead but that would be their biggest margin as the Tigers would go on a 5-2 run to take a 17-16 lead on a Rowand solo block. From there, Auburn's lead would extend to 20-18, forcing a Georgia timeout. The Bulldogs would call another timeout with a kill from Kathia Rud made it 23-20, giving Auburn their biggest lead at that point. Another kill from Rud brought it to set point, and a block from Rowand and Rhude gave the Tigers the opening set win. Auburn hit an outstanding .342 in the set with 17 kills and just four errors.
The second set would see Auburn jump out to a 4-1 lead, but the Bulldogs would storm back to tie things up at 7-7. Georgia would take its first lead at 12-11, leading by as many as two at 19-17. From there, though, Auburn would go on a 6-1 run to take a 23-20 lead as Harper's term of service included an ace and kept the Bulldogs out of system for four straight rallies. After an Auburn timeout at 23-21, a kill from Rhude was followed up by a block from Rud and Camila Jersonsky to finish off the second set at 25-21.
Auburn led most of the way in the third set, going ahead 4-3 and never trailing until the Bulldogs went on a 5-2 run to take their first lead at 20-19 after a Tiger ball handling error. But once again, the Tigers finished strong, winning six of the final seven points to close out the match. Fidero was responsible for the final two points of the night and of her career, joining Jersonsky for a block to set up set point and getting a kill on her final collegiate attack to end the match and an outstanding four-year career.
"I can't really describe the feeling," Fidero said. "It's like something out of a dream to get the chance to score the last point in my last game. I told Chelsea before the play, `Set me. There's no doubt this ball is going down.'"
NOTES: Solverson and Fidero combined for 54 wins in their collegiate career, tying them with last year's senior class as the winningest Auburn seniors since 2000 ... Tonight's win marked the first time in program history for the Tigers to win their final SEC game of the year ... It also marked just the second time in team history for the Tigers to close out the season with a win; the last time came in 1999 when Auburn defeated Southern Miss on the last day of the season ... Head Coach Rick Nold, in his first year at Auburn, finished the season with a 4-2 record against the SEC's other three teams with first-year head coaches: 2-0 vs. Alabama (Ed Allen) 1-1 vs. both Georgia (Lizzy Stemke) and South Carolina (Scott Swanson).