The Auburn volleyball team earned its fifth SEC win on Sunday, defeating Arkansas in four sets (25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19) in Barnhill Arena.
The win added to the team's current streak, the longest in conference play for the Tigers since 1998. Now Auburn sits at a 13-10 overall record, 7-3 SEC.
“The servers kept us in a decent situation to start the match,” head coach Rick Nold said. “Once we got our energy going, we were able to make decent runs. Our serving was a key and put Arkansas out of system, giving our offense great opportunities.”
“A big part of our success was also our passing and not giving up any aces to Arkansas,” Nold added. “That gave Alexa [FIlley] every option.”
Setter Alexa Filley picked up her 13th double-double of the year, having 42 assists and 19 digs. Gwyn Jones finished with a career-high 16 kills to lead Auburn, while Courtney Crable had a season-best 15 for the Tigers. Brenna McIlroy added 10 and Breanna Barksdale had 12.
Defensively, libero Jesse Earl had 17 digs and McIlroy chipped in 15 for her seventh double-double of the season. Barksdale led the team with four blocks, while Macy Reece and Filley had three apiece.
Arkansas (3-18, 1-8) was led by Danielle Harbin, totaling 16 kills. Breana Jones had 11 kills and setter Rachel Rippee had 44 assists. Libero Okiana Valle finished with 16 digs.
The teams battled to start the match until a kill from Filley and a pair from Jones pushed Auburn to an 11-7 advantage. Tough serving from Earl gave the Tiger offense great looks as the Auburn hitters had three-straight kills to make it 20-16. Crable sealed the set with a pair of kills, 25-21.
Razorback runs lifted the home squad to an early 11-8 lead in the second stanza. Arkansas pushed to a 17-13 and took set point at 24-21. A pair of kills from Crable held off the Razorbacks, but Arkansas went on to win the set, 25-23.
A Filley/Barksdale block made it 5-3 in set three and kill from McIlroy later in the set pushed Auburn on a run to go up 14-11. The Razorbacks battled to tie the set at 15, but a handful of Razorback hitting errors led to a 20-17 Auburn lead. A Jones kill gave Auburn the set, 25-20.
The Tigers held a slim advantage to kick off the fourth before the Razorbacks responded to go ahead at 15-14. A pair of kills from Reece and a pair of aces by Filley highlighted an Auburn run that pushed the visitors to a 19-15 lead. Stewart picked up her third ace of the night to give the Tigers a 21-16 advantage and Auburn took the match with a 25-19 win.
A week of rest is in store for Auburn before they return to play by traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, Oct. 30 to face the Vols at 12:30 p.m. CST.
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