Auburn outlasts Ole Miss 3-2
AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn volleyball team earned a 3-2 (25-17, 16-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-8) win over Ole Miss Friday night in Auburn Arena. The five-set match was the team's 12th of the season and victory pushed the Tigers to 16-11 overall and 8-7 in SEC play.
The Tigers had an excellent night at the service line, totaling a season-high 10 service aces as a team. It marks the first time since 2010 that an Auburn team has recorded 10 or more aces in a match. Sophomore libero Jesse Earl tied a career-high with four, while classmate Kelly Stewart had two.
Three Tigers totaled double-digit kills in the match as sophomore Courtney Crable led the way with 14. Freshman Brenna McIlroy had 13 kills, while junior Emily Klitzke finished with 10. Sophomore setter Alexa Filley had a match-best 42 assists for Auburn.
Defensively, the Tigers finished with 12 blocks as a team. Klitzke tied a career-high with seven and classmates Stephanie Campbell and Breanna Barksdale had five each. Earl led the back row with 23 digs, while senior Alyssa Ivey totaled nine.
Ole Miss (21-9, 7-8) was led by Ty Laporte and Kathryn Cather with 11 kills a piece. Libero Kristen Brashear finished with 21 digs and setter Aubrey Edie had 38 assists and 13 digs.
The teams exchanged points and runs to start the match, having six ties in the opening parts of set one. A kill from Crable triggered a 4-0 Tiger run to push Auburn ahead at 15-11. With an 18-15 lead, the Tigers used a six-point rally to take a 24-15 advantage and a kill from McIlroy sealed a 25-17 set win.
The Rebels secured an early lead to open the second set and forced an Auburn timeout at 15-11. Ole Miss put together a 5-0 run for a 20-13 advamtage and captured the set with a 25-16 win.
Down early in set three, kills from Filley and Campbell lifted Auburn to an 8-7 lead. The Rebels regained momentum and took their largest lead of the set at 16-12. The Tigers responded with 7-1 run to take a 20-17 advantage and reached set point on a Barksdale/Crable block. A kill from Crable secured a 25-21 win in the third.
Tied at 10, Ole Miss utilized early Auburn errors in set four for a 12-10 lead. The teams exchanged points until a pair of kills from Laporte sent the Rebels on a five-point run for a 23-17 advantage. The visitors forced a fifth set with a 25-19 win.
Auburn came out firing in the final stanza and captured a quick 6-2 advantage. A big Klitzke block set the score 8-3 and a Campbell/Filley block forced an Ole Miss timeout at 11-6. Facing match point, Earl picked up her fourth ace of the night to give the Tigers a 15-8 win.
The Tigers return to Auburn Arena one last time this season Sunday for a 1:30 p.m. match against Arkansas. Auburn will honor Mary Hannah Arrington, Alyssa Ivey and Taylor Schill prior to the match.