The Auburn volleyball team battled back from a 2-1 deficit against Ole Miss at The Pavilion Wednesday night to defeat the Rebels in a 3-2 victory.
“It really shows a lot about our courage,” head coach Rick Nold said “We struggled in sets two and three, but we kept fighting. It was really all about our serving because we were very aggressive, putting Ole Miss out of system and giving us opportunities. That was the difference.”
The win marked Auburn’s fourth in a row, pushing the Tigers to 12-10 on the season and 6-3 in SEC play.
Junior Alexa Filley recorded her second triple-double of the season, having 10 kills, 45 assists, and 18 digs. Sophomore Brenna McIlroy picked up a double-double in the match, adding a season-high 16 digs with 14 kills. Junior Courtney Crable had a season-best 14 kills for the Tigers, while freshman Gwyn Jones chipped in 11 kills.
Defensively, libero Jesse Earl finished with her 12th 20-dig performance, tying a season best with 28 on the night. Tate Pember added a career-high 14 digs and Kelly Stewart had also had 14. Junior Macy Reece finished with four blocks, while senior Breanna Barksdale and Filley had three apiece.
Ole Miss (12-9, 1-7) was led by Lexi Thompson and Taylor Alexander, having 25 and 14 kills, respectively. Setter Aubrey Edie finished with 53 assists, while libero Caroline Adams had 24 digs.
Rebel errors and an ace from Stewart put the Tigers ahead 4-1 in the first and a kill from Jones triggered a 5-0 run, 9-5. More Ole Miss miscues pushed Auburn to a 14-9 advantage and a block from Filley and Barksdale sent the Tigers on a rally to take a 21-14 lead. A Reece and Crable block made it set point and a kill from Jones sealed a 25-16 win.
The teams went back and forth for the lead to start set two until a three-point Ole Miss run put the home team up 10-7. The Tigers battled back to tie the set at 15, but a late Rebel run lifted Ole Miss to a 25-19 victory.
Ole Miss took a quick 4-0 lead in the third and then pushed ahead at 15-10 as the teams went into the media timeout. The Rebels went on to take the set, 25-19.
After falling behind 5-1 in the fourth, the Tigers began to chip away at the Rebel lead and used a four-point run to jump ahead at 14-12. Another long Auburn run made it 18-14 and kills from Crable sent the match into the fifth set with a 25-20 win.
Ole Miss pushed a quick 3-1 lead in the final stanza, but a four-point rally gave Auburn to a 7-5 lead. The Rebels battled back and tied the set at eight before jumping ahead at 12-11. Following an Auburn timeout, Crable and McIlroy put down a pair of kills to put the Tigers back up at 13-12 and kills from McIlroy and Jones gave Auburn the win, 15-13.
Auburn continues its road tour at Arkansas on Sunday afternoon. The first serve is set for 1 p.m. CST on Oct. 23 in, traveling to Arkansas for a Sunday afternoon tilt. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT, Oct. 23, in Fayetteville, Ark.
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