The Auburn volleyball team picked up a 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-14) win over South Carolina Sunday afternoon in Auburn Arena.
“We did a really good job serving today and getting South Carolina out of system,” Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. “Our serving enabled us to be organized on defense. Offensively, it was one of our better outings of the season and we did a good job moving the ball around with everyone staying aggressive.”
The win pushed Auburn to 15-14 overall and 9-7 in the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers have now recorded 15 or more wins in four of the last five seasons.
Auburn had one of its most proficient performances offensively on the year, finishing with a .353 hitting percentage as a team. A trio of Tigers had double-digit kills with Brenna McIlroy leading all student-athletes with 14. Breanna Barksdale tied a season high with 13 and Gwyn Jones added 11. Both Barksdale and Jones concluded the day with a .474 hitting clip.
Junior setter Alexa Filley paced the Auburn offense as she finished with 37 assists. She had eight digs, while classmate Jesse Earl also had eight for the Tigers. Barksdale led the Auburn blockers with four on the day. At the service line, Earl had two aces, while McIlroy, Kelly Stewart, and Abigail Miller each had one.
The Gamecocks (18-10, 6-10) were led by Mikayla Shields with 12 kills. Libero Megan Kirkland finished with 10 digs and setter Aubrey Ezell totaled 24 assists.
Tough serving from Stewart and Earl led to a quick 6-1 lead in the first for the Tigers. South Carolina came within one at 12-11 before a Gamecock error and a kill from Macy Reece lifted Auburn to a 14-11 advantage. Later in the set, a kill from Jones and another South Carolina error gave Auburn set point, 24-19, and Barksdale sealed the set with a kill, 25-20.
South Carolina regrouped and came out firing in set two, taking an early 8-2 advantage. A trio of two-point Auburn runs cut the Gamecock lead at 11-9 and back-to-back McIlroy kills forced a SC timeout with the visitors leading 12-11. A kill from Jones late in the set triggered 5-0 Auburn run, putting the Tigers up 23-22. After exchanging points, a kill from Enija Bidzane made it 26-25 and a McIlroy ace sent the teams to the break with a 27-25 AU win.
The Tigers kept momentum going in the third, going ahead 7-2. A Reece kill sent Auburn on a run to make it 15-9 and a kill from Jones followed by tough serving from Earl pushed Auburn to 20-11 lead. The Tigers took the match with a 25-14 victory.
Auburn closes out the 2016 season with two matches next week. The Tigers travel to Gainesville to battle Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. CST. The squad returns to Auburn Arena for one last time this year Saturday, Nov. 26, with a 12:30 p.m. CST match against Texas A&M.
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