Aug. 25, 2017
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ATLANTA -- The Auburn volleyball team kicked off the 2017 season in style Friday at the Hyatt Regency Invitational in Atlanta, sweeping host Georgia Tech, 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-18), inside O'Keefe Gym.
"The team played aggressive tonight and it really showed," head coach Rick Nold said. "Our passing and serving gave us great opportunities and allowed us to spread out the offense. It was a great start to the season for this team."
The Tigers (1-0) had an overall solid performance, having steady play both offensively and defensively. As a whole, the team hit .422, while limiting the Yellow Jackets to a .109 hitting percentage.
Brenna McIlroy had a great start to her junior season, finishing with 12 kills on 23 attempts with just one error for a .478 attack percentage. Senior Macy Reece picked up eight kills, while sophomore Gwyn Jones had seven. Freshman middle blocker Anna Stevenson put together a great match in her first season, connecting for six kills on nine attempts and a .667 percentage.
With the help of solid passing in the back row, senior setter Alexa Filley paced the Auburn offense with 34 assists and added five kills of her own.
Defensively, senior libero Jesse Earl finished with a match-best 11 digs, while Filley chipped in nine. The pair added two aces apiece. Stevenson led all student-athletes with five blocks.
Gabriela Stavnetchel had 11 kills for Georgia Tech (0-1) and setter Gaby Benda finished with 21 assists. Libero Sam Knapp totaled seven digs.
After falling behind early in the first, the Tigers began to chip away at the GT lead before a kill from McIlroy and a Filley ace put AU up 11-10. A pair of two-point runs pushed the Tigers ahead at 19-15 and a kill by Jones gave Auburn set point, 24-18. An ace from Earl sealed the set, 25-18.
The Tiger offense was on fire in set two as the team hit .500, while the defense limited the Yellow Jackets to a -.087 percentage. Kills from McIlroy and Stevenson kicked off the set and a long Auburn rally forced a Georgia Tech timeout, 11-6. Back-to-back kills from Shaina White led to a 19-11 lead and an ace from Karis Beasley set the teams to intermission with Auburn winning, 25-13.
Set three was a tightly contested one between the teams as each exchanged points and rallies to start the stanza. Locked at 11, a three-point swing from Auburn gave the Tigers the momentum to finish the match. Stevenson picked up her fifth and sixth kills to push AU up 22-17 and a solo stuff from Stevenson closed out the day, 25-18.
Auburn closes out the Hyatt Regency Invitational Saturday, Aug. 26, with a pair of matches in O'Keefe Gym. The Tigers first face No. 17 Michigan State at 11 a.m. CT before capping the weekend against Furman at 5 p.m. CT.