The Tigers took on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Auburn Arena on Friday to kickoff the 2016 season. After a strong start in set one, Auburn dropped the next three sets to eventually lose 3-1.
In set one Auburn came out aggressive and was able to make a run in the end to win 25-21, from there things went downhill. They lost a competitive second set 25-22 before losing the last two in lopsided fashion by a score of 25-18.
“We came out and we were really efficient offensively but we talked about the whole time where our mentality and aggressiveness needed to be," said head coach Rick Nold.”We saw too many times where we were giving them too many opportunities and they are a good team that will take advantage of that.”
The Tigers have a quick turnaround before playing Furman at noon on Saturday. The key for success will be a short memory.
“[We have to] forget this game, learn from it, and come back tomorrow to start over again," said outside hitter Courtney Crable.
Junior Jesse Earl added, “all of these games are leading up to the NCAA Tournament and we need to realize that every single game matters. That is something we failed to realize last year and let the little ones slip away.”
Brenna McIlroy lead the team in kills with 11 followed closely by Freshman Gwyn Jones who racked up 10 kills.
“[Gwyn Jones] has a lot of ability, I thought early she was very aggressive on the slide and put us in a good position,” said Nold. “She definitely has a bright future and is one of our leading attackers as she has been all preseason and I expect that to continue.”
Defensively Jesse Earl led the team with 24 digs picking up where she left off last year.
Auburn is back in action with a double header tomorrow starting with Furman at Noon and Pacific at 7:30pm.
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