Nov. 3, 2013
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AUBURN, Ala. - Senior Camila Jersonskyput down 14 kills and seven blocks to lead the Auburn volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Mississippi State (25-17, 25-16, 25-16) on Sunday afternoon at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers (15-8, 6-5) notched their third-consecutive sweep in Southeastern Conference play, and in doing so, guaranteed at least a .500 record for the second-straight season. It was also the third win in a row for the Tigers over Mississippi State (11-13, 2-8 SEC) and the seventh in the last nine meetings, and it moved Auburn above .500 in SEC play for the first time this year.
It was a big day for Auburn's offense in the middle as Jersonsky and fellow senior Courtney McDonaldcombined for 23 of Auburn's 50 kills and both topped the .500 mark on the day. Jersonsky hit .619 with just one error on 22 swings, and McDonald had nine kills on 13 attempts with just two errors for a .538 hitting percentage.
"Really happy with the win," Auburn head coach Rick Noldsaid. "We talked before the match about attacking the middle, and as the match went along, we did a good job getting (our middles) the ball. Cam really moved the ball around and picked some different shots and earned a lot of points for us. The key to our offense is to spread things around, and when we do that, we open things up for each of our hitters."
Katherine Culwell also had nine kills on the day on 25 error-free swings for a .360 hitting percentage. Kathia Rud and Stephanie Campbell added seven kills apiece, and Emily Klitzkecontributed four to the winning effort.
Setters Chelsea Wintzinger and Alyssa Iveywere instrumental in spreading the ball around to the Tigers' hitters with Wintzinger posting 24 assists and Ivey contributing 18.
The Tigers also had 10 blocks in the match, a season-high for Auburn in a match lasting less than five sets, with Jersonsky responsible for seven of them. Rud was in on five blocks, and McDonald and Klitzke had two apiece. Sarah Wroblickywas also strong defensively with a 16-dig effort while Culwell was one behind her with 15 digs.
"We had a good defensive game plan," Nold said. "I thought we did a good job, especially early, taking away the shots they like to hit. When we're doing that, it makes it easy to play defense behind. The players did a good job of sticking to the game plan and taking things away (from MSU)."
Kimmy Gardiner led Mississippi State with 11 kills, and Taylor Scott added eight.
Auburn hit .369 in the match, the third-best mark of the season for the Tigers and the top hitting percentage for Auburn in an SEC match this year; Mississippi State, meanwhile, hit .094, the second-straight match Auburn has held an opponent below .100. Auburn had 50 kills to MSU's 30 and out-dug the Bulldogs 53-37.
Except for the first points of each set, Auburn never trailed in the match. Auburn jumped out early in each of the first two sets and, despite an MSU run to cut it to a one-point game in set one, never allowed the Bulldogs to tie the score after the initial points of the set. The Tigers hit .314 in the opening set and .312 in the second, holding MSU below .100 in each of the first two frames. The Bulldogs hung around in the third set, staying within two or three points most of the way, but Auburn pulled away late, closing on an 8-2 run.
The Tigers will play what will likely be the final match at the Student Activities Center on Friday night, Nov. 8, as the unbeaten and seventh-ranked Missouri Tigers visit for a 7 p.m. match. The match is being played at the Student Act because of a conflict with the men's basketball season-opener. Next Sunday, the Tigers are back at Auburn Arena for a 1:30 p.m. match against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Admission is free to all home Auburn volleyball matches.
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