Sept. 19, 2015
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
TAMPA, Fla. - The Auburn volleyball team came up just short in a hard-fought match against St. John's Saturday night, dropping a 3-2 decision (22-25, 25-20, 29-31, 25-22, 12-15) at the USF Invitational.
The Tigers (8-4) got double-digit kills from four players and put down a season-high 14 blocks, but the Red Storm (10-5) was able to pull out crucial points late in sets to pick up the win. Four of the five sets were decided by three points or less.
"We knew St. John's was going to be a tough team," Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. "It was a battle back and forth. We kept playing scrappy. It came down to a couple of plays, and it didn't go our way. I'm proud of the effort. That's the type of game where we have to learn to make those little plays, and if we do, I expect a good finish to the year."
Courtney Crable, who was named to the all-tournament team, led the Auburn attack with 17 kills and a .317 attack percentage. Brenna McIlroy added her sixth double-double of the season with 16 kills and 18 digs, along with three blocks.
Junior Stephanie Campbell earned her first career double-double with 12 kills and 10 blocks, becoming the first Auburn player to record a 10-block match since 2006 (Julie Bosler vs. South Carolina). Alexa Filley filled the stat sheet with 55 assists, six kills, eight digs, three blocks and an ace, and sophomore libero Jesse Earl recorded a season-high 28 digs with nine assists and a pair of service aces.
CiCi Silva, after a season-high 13 kills in the first match of the day against USF, had a season-best eight blocks along with seven kills vs. St. John's.
Auburn had more kills (70) than St. John's (59), won the digs battle (92-78), and had eight service aces to the Red Storm's three. But St. John's had more blocks (18-14) and hit .193 to the Tigers' .161; Auburn had 38 attack errors on the night to SJU's 24.
Southeastern Conference play begins next Friday, Sept. 25, as Auburn hosts Tennessee at Auburn Arena. Admission is free for all home Auburn volleyball matches.
For the latest on Auburn Volleyball, follow @AuburnVB on Twitter and visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/AuburnVB.