Auburn's Head Coach Wade Benson and the Tigers' Volleyball Team began the 2009 season with a successful performance in the War Eagle Invitational.
The Lady Tigers started off their season with high intensity and a win against Alabama A&M Friday.
The team then went on to defeat the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama A&M again Saturday.
"I thought it was a great start for this team," Benson said. "Our upperclassmen played solid and our freshmen were pretty sound. We played a great tournament, but the team needs to keep it all in perspective and continue to improve."
This crucial three-match winning streak brought Auburn's overall record to 3-0, giving the Lady Tigers tremendous momentum going into their season.
Auburn's volleyball team played its fourth consecutive home match Wednesday against Troy.
The Tigers will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., Friday and Saturday to face off against Minnesota, Iowa State and George Washington University.
Auburn will return to The Plains again on Tuesday to face the Jacksonville State University Lady Gamecocks in the Student Activities Center.
Jacksonville State's volleyball team began its season with a three-game winning streak at the Decon Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The team defeated Furman 3-1, Wake Forest 3-1 and Charlotte 3-2.
With both Auburn and Jacksonville State having such impressive beginnings to the season, volleyball fans are in for a showdown between these two teams Tuesday night.
Benson is now in his second season as Auburn volleyball head coach, and he is optimistic about the 2009 season.
"We played a great tournament (at the War Eagle Invitational)," Benson said. "But the team needs to keep it all in perspective and continue to improve. We're not looking for wins and losses, but for execution. Wins will come with execution."
The players as well are optimistic about this upcoming season.
"We have worked so hard in team training camp for the past few weeks, and winning all those games in three was rewarding," freshman outside hitter Katherine Culwell said. "Going into this week's games, we are continually trying to increase our level of play little by little so we will peak at the right time during conference."
Culwell was named this week's SEC Freshman of the Week for her performance.
She said she has quickly picked up on the key points necessary to defeat Jacksonville State on Tuesday.
"Coach Benson continually talks about us playing our game," Culwell said, "So I think if we go out there and play the way we always do, we can take them out of their comfort zones and control the match."
Junior defensive specialist Liz Crouch believes a key factor for the match against Jacksonville State is having a strong defense.
"If you can't dig the ball up then the offense never gets a chance to make the attack," Crouch said. "However, volleyball is really a team sport and neither aspect of the game would be successful without the other."
Almost half of Auburn's team is comprised of freshmen or transfers.
Making these girls feel a part of the team has been important to the returning players and is part of having a successful season.
"The team has already become very close, and everyone was able to rely on each other and gain respect and trust in every player on the court," Culwell said. "Without that, we would never have a shot at being a successful team this season."
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