Sept. 10, 2016
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AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team capped the Auburn Invitational Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-14) victory over Jacksonville in Auburn Arena. The win moved the Tigers to 5-5 on the season.
"Serving was the big difference for us today," head coach Rick Nold said. "We put them out of system quite a few times, which provided us with opportunities. But we have to keep getting better. We saw some good things, but also saw some more things we really want to work at."
Senior Breanna Barksdale and junior Alexa Filley were placed on the all-tournament team for Auburn. Miami (OH) captured the tournament title and placed Maris Below, Katie Tomasic and Maeve McDonald on the invitational squad. Below was named the weekend's Most Valuable Player.
Jacksonville's Jessica Armstong and Memphis players Regan Comperry and Michaella Moss were also placed on the all-tournament team.
Barksdale led the Tigers with 11 kills and a .350 hitting percentage, while sophomore Brenna McIlroy totaled nine kills and tied a career-high with four aces. Filley picked up another double-double with 29 assists and 17 digs.
Freshman Gwyn Jones added eight kills for Auburn and senior Emily Klitzke finished with six kills and two solo blocks. Junior libero Jesse Earl finished with 17 digs and chipped in three aces.
The Dolphins (3-6) had a pair of attackers with seven kills in Armstrong and Mallory Mattingly. Libero Mackenzie Swan led the team with 15 digs.
Locked at four in set one, tough serving from McIlroy put Jacksonville out of system and gave Auburn a 12-4 lead. The Dolphins used a long run of their own to come within two at 14-12, but a kill from Jones sent the Tigers on a 5-0 rally for a 20-14 advantage. A kill from Klitzke sealed a 25-17 set win.
Down 7-5 in the second, Jacksonville went on a five-point run to take a 10-7 advantage. The Tigers responded with a trio of two-point rallies to tie the set at 13 and kills from Klitzke and McIlroy pushed Auburn ahead at 15-14. Dolphin errors made it 18-15 and a kill from Enija Bidzane at 23-19 gave Auburn the momentum to close out the set, 25-19.
A McIlroy kill put the Tigers ahead at 5-4 early in the third. Back-to-back-to-back aces from Earl made it 12-9 and kills from McIlroy and Bidzane forced a Dolphin timeout at 14-10. More Jacksonville errors led to a 20-11 advantage and a Klitzke kill sealed the 25-14 win.
The Tigers close out their non-conference slate with a trip to Michigan for the Michigan Invitational, Sept. 16-17. Auburn takes on nationally-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor Friday night. The team then travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a pair of matches vs. Colgate and Eastern Michigan Saturday.