LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Auburn volleyball team put together a huge performance to close out Friday night at the Kansas Invitational, topping host Kansas in five sets (25-18, 18-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-6) in Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The win moved the Tigers to 4-3 on the year.
"We knew coming into this tournament that it was going to be a battle every match and we had to bring our best," head coach Rick Nold said. "I liked the way we responded after the first match this morning and played aggressively. I loved how balanced we played overall and we had some people really step up. We wanted to see was how we handled adversity and being able to respond and finish the way we did tonight was a great sign."
Freshman Taylor Rowland put together a career night for the Tigers, having 23 kills. Senior Brenna McIlroy picked up another double-double on the year with a season-best 14 kills and 14 digs, while putting three service aces on the board. Junior Gwyn Jones chipped in nine kills and freshman setter Mica Allison totaled a career-high 47 assists.
Freshman libero Bella Rosenthall led the Tigers with a career-best 20 digs, while junior Karis Beasley had nine. Middle blockers Chesney McClellan and Shaina White had four blocks apiece.
Kansas (4-3) had three players with double-digit kills. Mmachi Nwoke led the team with 17, while Zoe Hill had 13 and Jada Burse had 12. Rachel Langs had 14 digs and setter Camryn Ennis totaled 38 assists and 12 digs.
Back-to-back kills from Rowland pushed Auburn to an early 4-1 lead in the first. More big swings from S. White and Rowland pushed the Tigers to a 14-9 advantage to force a KU timeout and a kill by McIlroy set the score 18-13. More strikes from Rowland made it 23-17 and a McClellan/Jones block sealed the set, 25-18.
Kills from Rowland and McClellan put the Tigers up quick in set two, 3-2, but the home squad pushed an early three-point run to go ahead at 6-4. The teams exchanged points until another push from KU made it 15-11. The Jayhawks capitalized on Tiger errors and tied the match at one set apiece with a 25-18 victory.
The home squad held momentum into the third and went up 9-6. Auburn battled back to tie the set at 9-all and a four-point Tiger push sent the home team into a timeout with AU leading 14-11. Kansas inched back to lock the score at 17-17, but a kill by McIlroy and a Jayhawk error lifted Auburn to a 21-19 advantage. Kansas utilized a timeout and closed out the set on a 6-1 run to take a 25-22 win.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the fourth as the teams saw 16 ties and 10 lead changes. A kill from McIlroy and a great swing out of the back row by Beasley put the Tigers up 11-10 and two-straight swings by Rowland made it 16-13. After a timeout, KU responded with a run to go ahead 23-22, but the Tigers never relented and the squads exchanged points to the very end. A big block from Jones/McClellan gave the Tigers set point and another Jayhawk error sent the teams into the fifth, 27-25 AU.
Auburn held momentum in the final set, taking a big 5-1 lead and not looking back. A huge Allison/S. White block and tough serving from McIlroy sent the Tigers on a six-point run, 13-4, and the squad capped the night on a kill by Rowland, 15-6.
Auburn closes out the weekend Saturday with an 11 a.m. CT contest against American in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.