Sept. 9, 2016
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team suffered a five-set setback to Miami (OH), falling to the Redhawks in a tough match, 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 26-28, 26-24, 15-11), Saturday night in Auburn Arena. The match was the final match of day one of the Auburn Invitational.
"We came out and had good energy, but we took our foot off the gas in sets two and four and you can't do that against a good team like Miami," head coach Rick Nold said. "They made some plays and got back in to the match. At the end, we didn't stay aggressive and any team like Miami will take advantage of that."
Auburn (4-5) had three players finish with double-doubles on the night. Sophomore Brenna McIlroy notched 17 kills and 12 digs, while junior setter Alexa Filley totaled 51 assists and tied a career-high with 24 digs. Junior libero Jesse Earl tied her season-best with 28 digs and chipped in 10 assists.
Freshman Gwyn Jones and senior Emily Klitzke each had 14 kills for Auburn. Senior Breanna Barksdale added 11 kills, while Klitzke finished with four blocks.
The Redhawks (5-4) were led by Maris Below with 18 kills and 15 digs. Katie Tomasic totaled 16 kills and libero Maeve McDonald had a team-best 26 digs.
A kill from Jones sent the Tigers on an early 6-1 run in set one to give Auburn a 7-4 lead. Klitzke picked up a kill at 12-9 that led to another Auburn rally, making it 16-9. A kill by Courtney Crable triggered a 5-1 Tiger run for a 23-15 advantage and Auburn took the set with a kill from Jones, 25-17.
The Redhawks took a quick 6-3 lead at the start of the second. Four straight Auburn kills put the Tigers ahead at 12-9 and a trio of kills from Barksdale pushed Auburn to a 21-15 lead. Miami, however, used tough serving to rattle off a nine-point run for set point at 24-21 and took the set, 25-22.
Auburn returned from the break with energy and jumped ahead 7-3 in the third stanza. A service ace from Kelly Stewart made it 12-8 and one from McIlroy forced a Miami timeout, 17-13. The Redhawks rebounded and pushed a 7-2 run to tie the set at 20. Back-to-back Miami blocks gave the visitors set point, 24-23, but the Tigers weren't through. A kill from Klitzke put Auburn at set point, 27-26, and Barksdale sealed the win with a kill, 28-26.
The teams exchanged sideouts to start set four before kills from Filley and Crable made it 8-6 Auburn. A three-point Tiger run pushed the home squad up at 13-9 and an ace from Earl set the score, 18-14. The Redhawks battled back with four points to tie it up at 18 and after a handful of sideouts, Auburn faced match point at 24-21. Miami held tough and closed out the set with five-straight points, 26-24, to force a fifth.
The Redhawks brought their momentum to the final set and took an early 5-2 lead. Kills from Crable and Filley cut the Miami advantage to a point, 7-6, before a pair of Redhawk kills pushed the visitors to a 12-9 lead. The Tigers could not recover and Miami captured the match with a 15-11 win.
Auburn closes out the Auburn Invitational Saturday with a 1:30 p.m. CT match vs. Jacksonville in Auburn Arena. Parking information for Saturday's matches can be found here.