Auburn volleyball returned to Auburn Arena to face Florida State in its 10th match of the season and its last out-of -conference matchup for the year.
Set 1 started with each team keeping right there with each other. Neither side got more than a 1-point lead through the first 10 points on both sides. Auburn got the first 2-point lead at 12-10 with two kills from Brenna McIlroy.
The Seminoles would make a comeback, tying the game 19-19 with an ace from outside hitter Payton Caffrey and kills by outside hitter Christina Ambrose and middle blocker Taryn Knuth.
Auburn would jump back ahead 23-20 with another kill from McIlroy and attack errors from FSU. Auburn won Set 1 25-20 on McIlroy’s seventh kill of the set.
Gwyn Jones had three kills and Taylor Rowland had two of her own to contribute to the win. Mica Allison had four digs and 10 assists in the set.
FSU took a quick 3-0 lead to start off Set 2. Auburn came back to tie it 6-6 with a kill from Rowland and strong serving from McIlroy. Auburn took an 11-8 lead with two kills from Chesney McClellan and an ace from Allison.
The Seminoles tied it back up at 13-13 after three attack errors by the Tigers.
The teams continued with the back and forth, with the only significant lead being at 18-15 for the Tigers. The Seminoles recovered to tie the set at 19-19.
It would take a little extra work, but Auburn won set two 28-26 with a kill from Rowland. Rowland had three kills and McClellan had two. Jones hit six. Bella Rosenthall had 5 digs and Allison assisted 13 times.
“Mica did a good job distributing our offense,” Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. “We got the ball going to Gwyn a little bit over there. Middles were really active.”
Set 3 started much the same as Set 1, with no leads more than a point for either side. FSU would take a lead at 10-6 on a block from Adrian Ell and Knuth, plus a kill from Caffrey.
FSU would continue to stay well ahead, taking a 20-10 lead. The Seminoles won Set 3, 25-16. The Seminoles combined for 18 kills and 20 digs
“I thought we were giving them too many easy situations,” Nold said. “We got to handle the ball better.”
Set 4 started in Auburn’s favor with the Tigers taking a 5-2 lead. FSU came back to tie it 7-7. The Seminoles fought back to take a 13-11 lead on a kill from Ell and a block by Knuth.
Auburn tied it back up at 23-23 with a kill from Shaina White.
Auburn won the set 25-23 on a block from Tatum Shipes and White. Auburn took the set 3-1 to move to 7-3 on the season.
“You wanna see your team when you get your back against the wall, how you are gonna handle it,” Nold said. “I love the way we battled through there.”
Mcilroy finished the day with 20 kills. Jones had 11, Ships had seven and both White and McClellan had six. Allison had 47 assists while Rosenthall had 20 digs. Karis Beasley had 16 digs of her own.
"We’re confident in the level we can play, we have seen ourselves do a lot of good things,” Nold concluded.
Next, the Tigers will face off against Tennessee to open SEC play. The game is set for Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. CT at Auburn Arena.
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