Sept. 11, 2015
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Courtney Crable had 15 of her 17 kills in the final two sets as the Auburn volleyball team bounced back for a 3-1 (25-22, 12-25, 27-25, 25-16) win over Little Rock on Friday afternoon at the Memphis Invitational.
The Tigers (5-2) snapped a two-match skid and remained unbeaten in preseason tournament play so far in 2015.
"Little Rock is a very talented team," Auburn head coach Rick Nold. "In game two and early in game three, they put us in some tough situations. But I was really happy with the way we regrouped and took control, mainly through serving tough and putting pressure on them. As a team you've got to work through those situations, and I'm really happy with how we finished."
Crable led all hitters with 17 kills and hit .308 for the match. It was a slow start for the Auburn sophomore as she had just two kills through the first two sets and was hitting -.077 with three errors. But a 10-kill third set and five more in the fourth led her to her second-highest kill total of the season as she accounted for 15 of Auburn's 33 kills over the final two games.
"They were keying on Courtney early," Nold said, "and then they were keying on our middles. It was just a matter of her taking advantage of the opportunities she had. I thought she did a good job of finding some holes and being aggressive."
The Tigers overcame 11 hitting errors with 16 kills to win the first set 25-22. Auburn led by as many as six points at 20-14, but the Trojans fought back to tie the set at 21-all. From there, though, the Tigers would minimize their mistakes to hold on for the first-set win. Filley recorded four kills on five attempts along with a pair of service aces to lead the Auburn attack in the opening frame.
After a dismal second set where the Tigers hit .000 with just six kills, Auburn held on for a 27-25 win in a back-and-forth third set that featured 19 ties and 13 lead changes. Barksdale had a kill to fight off a Trojan set point, then served an ace to give Auburn set point at 26-25. Crable's 10th kill of the set finished it off.
Auburn's service game proved to be a factor late in the match. The Tigers finished with a season-high nine service aces, led by four from freshman Brenna McIlroy. Sophomore libero Jesse Earl had two aces during a key 8-0 run in the fourth set where her tough serving kept Little Rock (2-5) off-balance throughout. The Tigers hit .419 in the fourth set with 16 kills against just three errors, never trailing after taking a 15-7 lead during Earl's term of service.
Alexa Filley added two aces to go along with five kills, six digs and 43 assists, and McIlroy and Breanna Barksdale contributed 10 kills apiece.
Auburn plays its second match of the day at 7 p.m. when the Tigers take on tournament host Memphis.