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DALLAS - Auburn senior Sarah Bullock recorded her 1,000th career kill, and the Tiger volleyball team got back on the winning track Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 victory (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) over tournament host SMU in the final match of the Doubletree Classic at Moody Coliseum.
Bullock, a native of nearby Allen, Texas, became the 13th all-time member of Auburn's 1,000-kill club and the first since Jessica Glover reached the milestone during the 2008 season. She recorded the milestone kill in the first set on a play that tied the score after Auburn found itself in an early six-point hole.
"It feels amazing, especially since it was in my hometown and against one of the girls I played with on my club team," Bullock said. "I had a lot of family and friends here, a tremendous amount of support, and it feels awesome. And now I can forget about it, play my game and relax."
She also is on track to become just the fifth player in school history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career; after nine kills and a team-high 15 digs today, she now has 1,007 career kills and 951 digs.
"Sarah is a very important part of our team, and it's a special thing for her to be here in Dallas to get (her 1,000th kill)," Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. "She had a lot of fans in the stands. We rely a lot on her for obvious reasons, and she did a great job for us all weekend."
Auburn (9-1) showed strong resolve in today's match, bouncing back from its first loss of the season on Friday by fighting back from early deficits in the first two sets. The Tigers also earned their second all-time win over SMU (2-7), evening the all-time series at two wins apiece.
The Tigers also matched the best 10-match start in school history; the 1990 team is the only other squad in program annals to post a 9-1 record over its first 10 contests.
"I thought we were pretty consistent the whole way through," Nold said. "About halfway through game one, we turned up our intensity. We keep talking about the level we want to play, and once we got it turned up, we played the whole match that way."
The Tigers controlled the play at the net, putting down a season-high 12 blocks to account for 12 of SMU's 19 hitting errors on the day. As a result, the Tigers out-hit the Mustangs .327 to .124. Auburn had 42 kills to SMU's 33 and played strong defense with 53 digs to SMU's 36.
Bullock was joined by Chloe Rowand and Camila Jersonsky, all with nine kills, to share the team lead. Jersonsky also contributed a season-high seven blocks while Rowand matched her career-best with six. Courtney McDonald recorded four blocks along with five kills, and Katherine Culwell had seven kills, 10 digs and two blocks in her final match of the weekend in her hometown. Junior libero Sarah Wroblicky tied Bullock for the team lead with 15 digs.
"Not just today, but the whole weekend, we blocked as well as we have all year," Nold said. "(Assistant coaches ) Kris (Grunwald) and Eysha (Ambler) have been working on some different things, and that work showed up today."
The Tigers struggled in the early-going of the opening set as SMU ran out to a 15-11 lead. Poor serving from both teams was an issue as each team committed four errors. But the Tigers erased a 19-13 deficit, finishing the set on a 13-1 run to give Auburn a 25-20 first-set win. Bullock's second kill of the match, number 1,000 for her career, tied the score at 19-19, and her next one gave Auburn its first lead since the first point of the match. Kills from McDonald and Rowand, along with an ace from Wroblicky, put the Mustangs away in the first.
Auburn again erased an early deficit in set two, but a much more manageable one as SMU jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead. After Auburn took the lead and saw SMU tie the score at 9-9, the Tigers would never trail again after a 4-0 run to make it 13-9 and force a Mustang timeout. The Tigers then took advantage of three SMU errors, along with a kill from McDonald, to make it 19-15. From there, kills from Wintzinger, Bullock, Jersonsky and Kearney, along with two more SMU errors, gave Auburn the second-set win at 25-18. Auburn hit .267 in the second set and held SMU to a flat .000 mark (9 kills, 9 errors).
The third set, however, belonged to Auburn almost the whole way as the Tigers finished off the win with a 25-17 score. The Tigers went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-8 lead, forcing two SMU timeouts, and kept up the pressure as SMU struggled to come back. Auburn had four blocks in the final set, holding the Mustangs to .111 hitting.
Auburn will kick off Southeastern Conference play next weekend on the road. The Tigers will travel to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, before making their first trip to new SEC member Texas A&M for a 1 p.m. Sunday contest.