JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Auburn volleyball team completed a full first day of the 2026 season Friday night with a 3-1 (25-13, 25-13, 28-30, 25-20) win over host ETSU in the Buccaneer Classic.
Junior Belle Patrick led all hitters with a career-high 20 kills. The Cary, North Carolina product added six digs and tied a career best with four aces. Junior Lauren Dreves earned her first double-double of the season with 19 kills and 14 digs.
Sophomore Carson Eickenloff paced the Auburn offense with 52 assists, marking a career best. She added seven digs for the defense.
Sophomore Greer Chambless had 10 kills for the Tigers with Kate Mansfield contributing nine. Mansfield also led the Tigers in blocks with three.
Freshman Emily Keiran had a team-high 15 digs and senior Symone Sims added 11 digs for the squad.
The Tigers came out hot in Set 1, hitting a scorching .556 to best the Buccaneers 25-13. Early kills from Mansfield and Patrick gave the visitors a 4-2 advantage before a kill by Patrick sent the squad on a five-point run at 10-5. A handful of runs later in the set let to a 19-10 lead and block by Mansfield and Chambless sealed the set.
Auburn continued its streak into Set 2 as it opened with a 6-1 lead highlighted by a pair of aces from freshman Macy McAmis. A seven-point push put the Tigers up 17-4 and kills by Dreves and Patrick capped another 25-13 set win.
ETSU regrouped and found life early in Set 3, taking a 6-3 lead. A kill by Patrick tied the stanza at 8-all and a strike from Grace Havlicek made it 12-11, AU. The Buccaneers battled back to go up 16-14, but the Tigers wouldn’t let up and an ace from Patrick flipped the score to 21-19.
Auburn faced match point at 24-22 before ETSU used back-to-back kills to make it 26-25. After going back and forth, ETSU finally pushed ahead in extras to win 30-28.
The Tigers rebounded in the fourth, jumping out to a quick 5-3 advantage. A kill from Havlicek and back-to-back Patrick aces made it 12-10 and three two-point runs pushed the Tigers up, 20-16. A kill by Chambless gave AU match point and a Chambless/Mansfield block sealed the deal, 25-20.
Auburn closes out the Buccaneer Classic Saturday, August 29, with a 12 p.m. CT contest against Akron.
HEAD COACH BRENT CROUCH
“It was a good test in a tough environment for us today. I was really proud of our hitting efficiency in the first two sets. We gave them the momentum in the third and that is something we need to work on, keeping the momentum on our side when we’re up. Still more improvement to be made as we close out the weekend.”
MATCH NOTES
-Belle Patrick finished with a career-high 20 kills and tied a career high with four aces.
-Lauren Dreves recorded her first double-double of the season with 19 kills and 14 digs.
-Carson Eickenloff with a career-high 52 assists in the match.