In the first meeting ever between Charleston Southern and Auburn in volleyball, the Tigers bounced back after an upset loss to Middle Tennessee with a 3-1 victory over the Buccaneers (23-25, 25-16, 25-9, 25-19). As the Tigers were ranked No. 25 in the latest poll, this was the first-ever win for Auburn as a ranked team.
The Tigers came back from a 25-23 opening set loss in which they were outscored 17-8 to end the set. After that, however, the match was all Auburn as the Tigers won the next three sets, outscoring the Buccaneers 75-44 in those sets.
Auburn had 74 points as a team while Charleston Southern had 48. Auburn controlled the point-scoring percentage with 54.6% to the Buccaneers' 35.7%.
Auburn had 55 kills with a .245 hit percentage to Charleston Southern's 39 kills and .111 hit percentage. The Tigers had seven aces, their most since the season's opening weekend, to Charleston Southern's one.
After Auburn won the second set 25-16, the third set was not nearly as competitive, with Auburn earning a 25-9 victory in the set. In one of Auburn's most lopsided sets of the season, the Tigers scored the first seven points and never looked back, taking a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set.
The fourth set saw the Tigers carry on the momentum of the previous two sets as they won the set 25-19 to seal the match win.
After suffering its first loss the night before, Auburn bounced back and fended off the upset-minded Buccaneers. Indigo Young finished with nine kills to lead Charleston Southern.
Auburn had a balanced attack with Bel Zimmerman, Madison Scheer and Kendal Kemp all reaching double digits for kills. Auburn had 12 blocks to Charleston Southern's eight. However, Charleston Southern had more digs than Auburn by a thin margin of 63 to 62.
Zimmerman tallied 17 kills and 16 digs, both career highs, for the Tigers in her first double-double. Scheer had 15 kills with 2 digs, Kemp earned a career-high 13 kills and Sarah Morton had 14 digs.
Auburn concludes the Tiger Invitational Saturday when it faces Mercer at 5 p.m. CST in Neville Arena. The match is available for streaming on the SEC Network+.
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TP is a senior from Montgomery, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @tp_hammock
