The Auburn women's volleyball team had a successful start to the 2011 season.
This past week, the Tigers competed in the Active Ankle Challenge hosted in Gainesville, Fla., and hosted Alabama A&M for the first home game of the season.
Auburn succeeded at the Active Ankle Challenge where they were pitted against both North Carolina and Boston College.
The Tigers' first match was against North Carolina on Friday.
The first set went back and forth before North Carolina eventually pulled ahead.
After North Carolina controlled the second set, Auburn took an early lead in the third set, but ultimately fell.
The Tar Heels came away with a 3-0 victory.
The Tigers' second match in the Active Ankle Challenge was against Boston College, whose coach, Chris Campbell, was previously an assistant coach at Auburn.
The Tigers maintained full control of each set against Boston College with a short point struggle early in the second set.
The Tigers held Boston College to a negative hit percentage, which led to the Tigers' 3-0 victory.
During the Active Ankle Challenge, several Auburn athletes broke records for kills, digs and assists, including sophomore outside hitter Vesela Zapryanova, sophomore middle blocker Chloe Rowand and junior outside hitter Brittney Rhude.
The Tigers entered their home opener on Tuesday with a 1-1 record.
Auburn faced Alabama A&M, which had a 3-1 record entering the match.
With the avid support of Tigers fans, the team completed the first set with a score of 25-12.
After being held to zero kills in the first set, Alabama A&M made an effort in the second set to come back.
However, the Tigers once again emerged victorious with a second set score of 25-14.
The third set ended with a final score of 25-16, sweeping Alabama A&M with an overall set score of 3-0.
Auburn travels to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for the MT Blue Raider Bash on the campus of Middle Tennessee State.
The Tigers begin Friday against Florida International.
Auburn's women's volleyball now stands with a 2-1 record after their two recent victories against Boston College and Alabama A&M.
This is a good start for the Tigers, as the new leadership of first-year coach Rick Nold is evident in the team's cooperation.
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