INDIANAPOLIS – The Auburn volleyball team capped the Top Dawg Challenge in Hinkle Fieldhouse with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-14) victory over Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon.
Senior Brenna McIlroy picked up another double-double on the day, totaling 10 kills and finishing with a season-best 15 digs. The Garland, Texas, product added three service aces in the match. Junior Gwyn Jones set a season high with 12 kills and notched a career-best .667 hitting clip. Freshman Taylor Rowland chipped in a career-best 14 kills for the Tigers.
Freshman setter Mica Allison finished with a career-high 43 assists and added four kills and two aces. A pair of sophomore middles in Anna Stevenson and Chesney McClellan totaled eight and five kills, respectively.
Defensively, freshman libero Bella Rosenthall totaled eight digs, while junior Karis Beasley had seven.
Eastern Illinois (2-5) was led by Taylor Smith with 13 kills. Libero Anne Hughes had 13 digs and setter Gina Furlin led the team with 15 assists.
Auburn (3-2) came out on all cylinders to start the match, jumping ahead to a 7-2 lead on hard hits from the net. EIU pushed a run halfway through the set to come within one at 15-14, but the Tigers responded with a run behind tough serving from Morgan Kull to go up 22-15. AU used kills from Rowland and McClellan to take the first, 25-19.
The Tigers came out hot again in the second and took an early 5-0 lead. EIU battled back and locked the set at 10-all. After exchanging point, three-straight kill from Rowland forced a Panther timeout with Auburn up 18-15. AU closed out the stanza seven-point run highlighted by three kills from Jones and two aces by Allison, winning 25-17.
Leading 7-6, Auburn pushed a 9-1 run for a 16-7 advantage. Big swings from McIlroy, Stevenson and Jones pushed Auburn to a 20-9 lead and a kill by Rowland gave the Tigers match point. Allison earned a kill to close out the weekend with a 25-14 win.
Auburn faces another tough set of opponents next weekend, traveling to Lawrence, Kan., for the Kansas Classic. The Tigers open with a pair of matches against Loyola Marymount and host Kansas, Sept. 7, and follow with a contest against American, Sept. 8.
