Aug. 27, 2016
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AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" In its first match of day two of the War Eagle Invitational, the Auburn volleyball team fell to Furman, 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16), in Auburn Arena Saturday.
The Tigers were once again led by sophomore Brenna McIlroy and freshman Gwyn Jones, offensively. McIlroy picked up 15 kills, while Jones had 10 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Libero Jesse Earl finished with a match-high 23 digs and chipped in two service aces. Senior Emily Klitzke finished with eight kills and a match-best five blocks.
Annie Bierman guided the Paladins (1-1) with 15 kills and nine digs. Nicole Mack had 12 kills and 14 digs, while libero Meg DeMaar led the team with 15 digs.
Tied at five in the opening set, the Paladins went on a 5-1 run to go ahead 10-6. Another rally led to a 16-9 advantage for Furman and a couple Auburn errors gave the visitors a 19-14 lead. A pair of kills by McIlroy cut the Paladin lead at 23-19, but Furman pushed ahead for a 25-21 win.
The Paladins forged ahead for an 8-5 advantage to kick off set two, but the Tigers put together a 7-1 run to take a 13-10 lead. After a Furman timeout, the Paladins swung the momentum their way and used three four-point runs to jump ahead, 21-16. The team went into intermission with a 25-19 set victory.
Auburn came out strong after the break and a kill from Klitzke with a service ace by Alexa Filley pushed the Tigers to a 7-5 lead. A kill from Jones triggered a 4-0 Auburn run to make it 11-8 and a kill from Klitzke sent the Tigers on a six-point rally to go ahead 17-10. A Jones kill gave Auburn set point and McIlroy sent the match to set four with a kill, 25-20.
A kill from Jones and an Earl service ace opened the fourth set and the Tigers took an early advantage, 2-1. The two squads exchanged points until kills from McIlroy and Klitzke gave Auburn a slim lead, 13-12. The Paladins regrouped and capitalized on Auburn errors to close out the match with an 11-2 run, winning by a score of 25-16
The Tigers conclude the War Eagle Invitational Saturday night, hosting Pacific in Auburn Arena. First serve is 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.