AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team opened 2018 hosting the War Eagle Invitational and downed High Point, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 28-26), Friday night in Auburn Arena.
"It took us a second to make some adjustments at the start, but I like that we started to make plays in every set," head coach Rick Nold said. "We had a couple big hitters really step up which was great and our freshmen responded well in a new environment. We're happy to open the season with a win."
Sophomore Anna Stevenson led Auburn (1-0) by putting up big numbers both offensively and defensively for the Tigers. The Laurens, S.C., product led all student-athletes with career-high 13 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while putting up a match-high five blocks.
Junior Gwyn Jones chipped in nine kills and a .364 hitting clip, while senior Brenna McIlroy added seven. Freshman setter Mica Allison led the match with 33 assists.
Defensively, the back row was guided by freshman libero Bella Rosenthall with 17 digs. McIlroy finished with 10 and Allison added eight.
High Point (0-1) had a pair of student-athletes with eight kills in Abby Broadstreet and Molly Livingston. Libero Abby Bottomley led the match with 21 digs, while Jordan Hefner finished with three blocks.
After falling behind early, the Tigers pushed to take an 8-7 lead in the first after back-to-back kills from Stevenson. Locked at 16-all, a block from McIlroy/Stevenson sent Auburn on a run to force a High Point timeout at 19-16. The home squad capitalized on three-straight errors from HPU to earn set point and a kill by Jones sealed the set, 25-21.
Kills from freshman Taylor Rowland and McIlroy made it 3-all in the second stanza and a push from Auburn put the Tigers up 7-4. The Panthers battled back for the lead at 10-8, but Auburn responded with a run highlight by a pair of McIlroy kills and two Stevenson blocks for a 14-11 advantage. An ace from Payton White made it 22-19 and the Tigers finished the set with a 25-19 victory.
A Stevenson kill and two-straight McIlroy aces made it 3-0 to start the third. Auburn held its lead throughout the early parts of the set, but High Point began to chip away at the gap and locked it up at 17-all. The Panthers took advantage a handful of Tiger errors to go up 22-19 until Auburn responded with a run to earn match point 24-23. The squads battled back and forth to the very end before McIlroy made it 26-26 and two-straight Stevenson kills sealed the match win.
The War Eagle Invitational continues Saturday, Aug. 25, with an 11 a.m. CT match between High Point and Michigan. Auburn and the Wolverines will cap the day with a 7 p.m. CT contest. All matches will be held in Auburn Arena and admission is free.
