Oct. 31, 2014
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Auburn volleyball got a balanced performance offensively as four players registered double-digit kills in the Tigers' 3-1 win (25-21, 25-16, 18-25, 25-23) on the road over Mississippi State Friday.
The win marked Auburn's (10-12, 2-7 SEC) fourth-straight victory over Mississippi State (6-20, 1-10 SEC) and ninth in the last 11 meeting between the two teams. The four-set victory also snapped the Tigers' five-match losing skid in SEC play and gave Auburn's its first road win of the season.
Courtney Crable posted a career-high 16 kills to lead all players, while Emily Klitzke finished with 15 including five kills in the fourth set. The sophomore finished with a season-best .522 hitting percentage as one of two Auburn players to hit over .500 in the match.
"I was really happy with the way we came out and we were very balanced offensively," head coach Rick Nold said. "We got away from that a bit, but we talked in the middle of game four and that this was a situation we wanted to be in. [Mississippi State] was battling and playing well and we needed to fight back. I was happy with how we were aggressive in the end to get the victory. "
Auburn was boosted by the return of Macy Reece, who collected 13 kills in her first action in nearly a month. Stephanie Campbell finished with 10 kills on 17 error-less swings to hit a match-high .588 - the highest hitting percentage for a Tiger in a four-set match this season.
"I thought Emily had an outstanding game," Nold said after the win. "We were basically trying to set up situations for her at the end. Macy coming back gave us another gun out there. She had a great first two games and it is one of those things where I think she'll keep getting better as time goes on."
Alexa Filley spread the ball around all night, registering 49 assists and 12 digs to earn her team-leading 11th double-double of the year. The freshman now has 815 assists this season, which ranks as the second-most in school history, passing former Tiger Chelsea Wintzinger in the Auburn record book. Filley also added in three kills, three blocks and a service ace in the win.
Alyssa Ivey recorded a team-high 17 digs, including eight in the fourth set to anchor Auburn's defense. Taylor Schill logged 15 digs, while Crable added in eight.
The Tigers' blocking game was consistent all night as Auburn finished with 10 in the match. Campbell led the way with five, while Breanna Barksdale and Klitzke both finished with four blocks, respectively.
Chelsea Duhs led the Bulldogs with 14 kills, while Emily Howard and Alex Warren finished with 11, respectively. Libero Payton Harris logged 23 digs, while Shelby Anderton recorded 39 assists.
As a team, Auburn hit .315 in the match marking its best hitting percentage in SEC play and second-best performance of the season. The Tigers also finished with 63 kills to Mississippi State's 50.
Auburn rounds out the weekend on Sunday, wrapping up the season series with Georgia. The Tigers topped the Bulldogs, 3-1, back on Oct. 1 in the teams' previous meeting this year. The match is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. CT and can be seen on the SEC Network +.
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