Auburn, Ala. — Auburn volleyball started off the home campaign with a 3-1 win over UAB on Thursday night. The Tigers were led by Anastasija Ivkovic’s .632 hitting performance with a career-high 13 kills on 19 attempts with just one error. With Lauren Dreves still out and Belle Patrick playing just half a set, Auburn looked elsewhere for production. Freshman Reese Shugart stepped up with a team-high 14 kills. Kate Mansfield was huge at net both offensively and defensively with eight kills and eight blocks. Digs came from every direction for Auburn: six different Tigers recorded five or more digs.
UAB opened the match hot, taking an 11-4 lead and forcing an Auburn timeout. The Tigers did not manage to begin closing the Blazer lead until UAB held a 23-15 lead, taking the set on a pair of Auburn service errors. Auburn blocked UAB three times but did not manage much production outside of the stuffs, hitting just .138.
Auburn used a five-point run, fueled by back-to-back Shanelle Puetz kills, to take a 9-4 lead in the second set. An 8-1 Tiger stretch expanded the lead even more, highlighted by the start of Ivkovic’s career night with three consecutive kills. Auburn and UAB traded points through the end of the set, clinching on a set error by the Blazers. Ivkovic hit four-for-five in the set. Mansfield and Greer Chambless each recorded three kills with a pair of blocks. The Tigers hit .353 in the set, holding UAB to a .062 hitting percentage in the frame.
Despite back-to-back attack errors to start the set, Auburn took a 6-2 lead in set three. Ivkovic contributed three points with a pair of kills and a solo block to open the frame. A four-point run later in the set put the Tigers up seven, forcing a UAB timeout at 18-11. Grace Havlicek recorded her second ace of the set. Havlicek has recorded multiple aces in four of the last five matches. Auburn ended the game with kills from Chambless and Mansfield, plus a block by Havlicek and Puetz. Ivkovic recorded another four-for-five set, adding a solo block. Chambless tallied four errorless kills on seven attempts in the set.
Auburn took a 4-1 lead early with a pair of kills by Shugart, the first of many in the set. After the Tigers opened the lead to 8-3, UAB battled back to tie and forced Auburn to call a timeout at 13-13. Back-to-back kills and a block by Shugart came out of the timeout to give Auburn a three-point lead. The Blazers once again fought back, pulling within a point at 20-19, but another Shugart kill started a five-point rally for Auburn. Back-to-back blocks by Mansfield set up match point for Auburn, taking the set and match on a UAB attack error. Shugart led the Tigers with eight kills in the frame. Mansfield logged four blocks in the final set.
NOTABLES
- Ivkovic’s 13 kills were a career high. Ivkovic hit .632, the highest qualified mark by a Tiger this season.
- Ivkovic hit .714 (10-for-14) in the final three sets.
- Shugart led Auburn with a career-high 14 kills on 39 attacks. Shugart’s six digs and two blocks were both career highs.
- Mansfield totaled eight blocks, the most by an Auburn player this season.
- Puetz’s three blocks were a career-high.
- Havlicek recorded a career-high six digs.
- Macy McAmis tallied a career-high three assists.
- Auburn logged 13 blocks, the most in a game this season.
- The Tigers were blocked a season-high 10 times by UAB.
- Auburn held UAB to a .080 hitting percentage, the second-lowest mark by an opponent this season.
- Auburn (14) and UAB (11) combined for the most service errors in an Auburn match this year; both marks are highs for the Tigers and Tiger opponents this year.
TIGER STANDOUTS
- Ivkovic hit .632, the highest mark of her career with at least 10 attempts. Ivkovic’s 13 kills were a career high.
- Mansfield led Auburn with eight total blocks. Offensively, Mansfield had eight kills on 18 attempts with two errors.
- Shugart came off the bench to lead Auburn with a career-high 14 kills. Shugart also recorded career highs with six digs and two blocks.
- Carson Eickenloff led Auburn with 24 assists. Eickenloff also recorded eight digs.
- Puetz showed out as the front-row setter. Along with her 14 assists, Puetz logged five kills on eight attempts and blocked UAB three times.
- Symone Sims led Auburn in digs for the first time this season with nine digs.
HEAD COACH BRENT CROUCH
- “Happy to be home and undefeated in front of the home crowd. We got a lot of good production from all around tonight. Anastasija had a career night and pulled the UAB defense later in the game, which opened up lanes for others, giving Reese a big final set off the bench and Greer some good looks in the third set. Obviously, we didn’t start the way we wanted to, but our changes worked and showed us some tools that we have for conference play.”
UP NEXT
- Auburn is back at Neville Arena tomorrow, September 18, at 6 p.m., taking on Samford for day two of the Alabama Showdown.
—War Eagle—