Sept. 23, 2016
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AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team kicked off Southeastern Conference play against LSU Friday night and held off a late run by the visiting Tigers, capturing a 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 15-9) win in Auburn Arena.
"We really stepped up and played tough in the fifth set," head coach Rick Nold said. "We had LSU on its heels at the end and played some great defense. That is what really made the difference throughout the match. LSU was defending extremely well, but in the end, it turned back into our favor."
The two Tiger teams are no strangers to five-set matches. In the last five meetings, Auburn and LSU have battled to five sets four times.
"There is just good defense on both sides of the court," Nold said. "LSU always plays good defense and it has typically come down to who can stay on their toes at the end."
Auburn (7-7, 0-1) had a trio of student-athletes finish with double-digit kills. Sophomore Brenna McIlroy set a career-high, leading all players with 20 kills in the match. She added 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Senior Breanna Barksdale reached a season-best with 13 kills, while freshman Gwyn Jones finished with 11.
Defensively, junior libero Jesse Earl led all student-athletes with 28 digs and classmate Kelly Stewart finished with 14. Junior setter Alexa Filley had 50 assists along with nine kills and nine digs. Junior Macy Reece chipped in nine kills and two solo blocks.
LSU's Gina Hillis had 15 kills and 21 digs for the Bayou Bengals, while Sydney Mukes finished with 13 kills and setter Anna Zwiebel totaled 34 assists and 10 digs. Libero Cheyenne Wood led the team with 23 digs.
Kills from Filley and Jones led to an early 9-5 lead in the opening stanza for Auburn before another kill from Jones sent the Tigers on a four-point run to make it 15-8. LSU regrouped after a timeout and began to chip away at the Auburn lead. The visitors came within a point at 22-21, but a service ace by Earl gave Auburn set point and McIlroy sealed the set with a kill, 25-22.
Set two opened with Auburn capitalizing on LSU errors and taking a 7-3 advantage. The pesky, visiting Tigers wouldn't go away and tied the set at 10. Auburn used another run to push to a 17-13 lead, but once again, LSU responded and locked it up at 17-17. The teams exchanged points before a pair of LSU errors gave Auburn set point and a McIlroy kill sent the match into intermission with a 25-22 victory.
Hard hitting from Auburn led to a 7-4 lead in the third. LSU errors put the Tigers up 12-9 before the Bayou Bengals came back with a 7-2 run to go up 16-14. The two teams went back and forth until a trio of Auburn errors lifted LSU to a 25-23 win.
It was once again a back-and-forth affair in set four until a run halfway through the stanza put LSU up 14-12. The visitors pressed ahead at 19-14, forcing an Auburn timeout. A LSU error followed by a Barksdale kill cut the LSU lead at 22-21, but the Purple and Gold held on to force a fifth with a 25-23 victory.
Auburn forced the momentum to swing at the start of the final set, taking a 5-0 lead thanks to a pair of kills and solo block from Reece. Back-to-back kills from McIlroy made it 7-2 and a kill from Filley sent Auburn on a run to go ahead 12-6. A strong swing by junior Courtney Crable gave the Tigers match point, 14-9, and McIlroy closed it out with her 20th kill, 15-9.
The Tigers travel to No. 19 Texas A&M to cap the SEC opening weekend, taking on the Aggies Sunday, Sept. 25, in College Station, Texas. The 2 p.m. CT match will be aired on ESPNU from Reed Arena.