Sept. 9, 2017
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AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn volleyball team capped a successful weekend at the War Eagle Invitational with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-20) sweep of Clemson Saturday night in Auburn Arena. With the victory, the Tigers improved to 7-1 on the season, marking the program's best start since 2013.
In addition, the win was head coach Rick Nold's 100th while at Auburn. He became the third-winningest coach in program history as well as the third to reach the 100-win mark on The Plains.
Four Tigers were named to the All-Tournament Team in senior Alexa Filley, junior Brenna McIlroy, and sophomores Gwyn Jones and Shaina White.
"I was really happy with the way we stayed aggressive tonight," Nold said. "We thrived with the help of our emotional leaders like Brenna (McIlroy) and I'm really happy to come away with win."
McIlroy and Jones led Auburn offensively, having 14 and 13 kills, respectively. S. White continued to be an efficient hitter for the squad, having eight kills on 12 attempts with just one error for a .583 hitting percentage. McIlroy's .481 clip set a career-best for the Garland, Texas, product.
Filley produced her fifth double-double of the season, having a match-high 36 assists to go with her season-best 14 digs. Senior libero Jesse Earl extended her double-digit dig streak, totaling 12 on the night.
Defensively, Jones, S. White, and freshman Anna Stevenson had three blocks apiece.
All-tournament performer Kaylin Korte led Clemson (4-5) with 12 kills. Setter Caroline Pearson had 34 assists, while libero Madi Howell finished with 18 digs.
Auburn capitalized on early Clemson errors in the first to take a 7-3 lead. A pair of kills from Stevenson sent AU on a 10-point rally to go up 20-7. Clemson responded with a long run of its own and came within two, 20-18, but strong serving from Earl and a pair of AU blocks pushed the team to a 25-19 win.
Clemson took its first lead of the match at 4-3 in the second and held its advantage throughout the early parts of the set. Kills from Jones and Stevenson tied it up at 11 and CU errors pushed Auburn ahead at 14-12, forcing a Clemson timeout. A strike from Macy Reece and another by Jones made it 21-17 and AU forged on to win, 25-19.
The home Tigers held momentum in the final stanza and took a quick 6-1 advantage. A kill from Filley sent AU on a run to make it 15-6 and kills from McIlroy set the score at 20-13. Auburn held off a handful of Clemson rallies late and took the match, 25-20.
Auburn caps its non-conference slate on the road, traveling to Miami, Fla., for the UM/FIU Invitational. The Tigers are set to face James Madison and Florida International Friday, Sept. 15, on FIU's campus. The team then concludes the weekend with a 10:30 a.m. CT match at Miami Saturday, Sept. 16.