AUBURN, Ala. – In a tightly-contested match, freshman Lily Thomason's solo block secured the 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 25-13, 21-25, 17-15) victory for the Auburn volleyball team over South Florida Saturday at the Knight Complex in Coral Gables, Fla.
"I like how we grinded that out," head coach Rick Nold said. "I like how we responded down in the fifth. I think that's when you show a lot about who you are in terms of character. We kept battling, and at the end we were the most aggressive I think we had been all day."
Thomason, seeing her first significant time in an Auburn uniform, finished with eight kills, five digs and five blocks, including the match winner.
"Lily coming in and making a difference was a big deal for us," Nold added. "She was getting the job done. You let that run. She did a good job attacking, and being smart with things. She's really the difference in the game."
Senior Enija Bidzane matched a career high with 19 kills. The Talsi, Latvia product collected seven in the fifth stanza to pace Auburn's attack offensively.
Two Tigers finished with double-doubles in the match. Sophomore Tatum Shipes added 12 kills and 13 digs for her second double-double of the season. Sophomore setter Marissa Hines dished out 48 assists and tied for the team lead with a career-best 15 digs.
Defensively, Auburn had 76 digs with just three reception errors. The Tigers finished with five different players collecting double-digit digs in the match. Hines and freshman Molly Pember led the way with 15. Sophomore Bella Rosenthall chipped in 11 while junior libero Payton White added 10.
Auburn (2-3) concludes play in the Sunshine State with a match against George Washington. First serve from Knight Complex is set for 10 a.m. CT Sunday morning.
SET ONE
After exchanging points to begin the match at 5-5, USF used a 4-0 run to go up 9-5. The Tigers answered back with a 3-0 push of their own to draw within a point at 8-9, using big swings from sophomore Val Green and junior Chesney McClellan. USF worked another run to go up 19-12. The Tigers would not go away quietly, maneuvering a 5-0 charge with kills from Shipes and Thomason to draw within three. The Bulls took advantage of a pair of Auburn errors late in the set to win, 25-20.
SET TWO
Auburn found itself down by as many as five early in the set, but the Tigers refused to go down without a fight. Shipes picked up her ninth kill of the match to tie the set at 21-all. Auburn fought off set point on three different occasions, eventually going up at 27-26 with Shipes reaching double-digit kills. Bidzane closed it out with her seventh kill to get Auburn the 2-1 advantage, 28-26.
SET THREE
The Tigers came out swinging in the third, using a 4-0 push to take an early 9-3 advantage. Auburn blew the set open with an 8-2 charge, to go up 21-10 and took advantage of back-to-back USF errors to close the set.
SET FOUR
The Bulls jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead in the fourth. Junior Jaeden Brown, competing against her former team, brought the Tigers within two at 10-12 with a big swing. USF capitalized on miscues late once again to take the stanza, 25-21.
SET FIVE
The two teams exchanged points to open the final frame at 5-5. Auburn used a Bull error and service ace from Pember to jump ahead, 7-5. USF answered back with a 4-0 run to take a two-point advantage of its own. Bidzane took back-to-back huge swings to tie the match at 10-all and the Tigers and Bulls once again exchanged points to bring the match to 14 apiece. Auburn fought off match point with a kill from senior Shaina White. A ball handling error gave the Tigers match point, and Thomason sealed it with the stuff, 17-15.