Sept. 9, 2016
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AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn volleyball team kicked off its busy weekend with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) sweep of Memphis Friday afternoon in the team's first match of the Auburn Invitational. The two-day tournament is being held in Auburn Arena.
"We now have an understanding of what we need to do to get a win," head coach Rick Nold said. "As today's match went along, we really started to play a lot sharper and really came together as team."
Senior Breanna Barksdale had a productive day for Auburn (4-4), totaling a season-high 10 kills on 15 attempts for a .467 attack percentage. Sophomore Brenna McIlroy added eight kills with two solo blocks, while senior Emily Klitzke finished with seven kills and four blocks.
Junior setter Alexa Filley picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 30 assists and 10 digs. Junior libero Jesse Earl had team-best 16 digs, while McIlroy finished with eight.
Memphis (4-3) was led by McKenzie Hayes with eight kills and four blocks. Summer Morgan had five blocks and five kills, while libero Michaella Moss finished with 16 digs.
After falling behind early in set one, Auburn responded with a five-point run to go ahead 10-7. A handful of Memphis errors made it 14-10 before the visiting Tigers used a run to force an Auburn timeout, 14-12 AU. After back-and-forth sideouts, a kill from Gwyn Jones and two by Klitzke gave Auburn set point and a Memphis error gifted Auburn the 25-21 win.
Memphis took another quick lead in the second stanza and held it through the opening half of the set. Back-to-back kills from Leticia Silva brought Auburn within two, 9-11, before a Filley/Klitzke block sent Auburn on a 6-0 run to go ahead 18-16. A McIlroy kill made it 23-22 and a solo block from McIlroy sent Auburn into the break with a 25-23 victory.
A kill from Macy Reece locked set three at 10 apiece and a 6-1 Auburn run pushed the Tigers to a 16-12 lead. Another big Klitzke/Filley block highlighted a five-point Auburn rally to make it 22-16 and the home team closed out the match with a kill from Reece and a service ace by Earl, 25-17.
Auburn returns to Auburn Arena Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. CT match vs. Miami (OH) as part of the Auburn Invitational. Auburn fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears and take part in the Teddy Toss at intermission. All stuffed animals will be donated to EAMC for the holiday season.