AUBURN, Ala. — In their eighth outing of the season, the Tigers extended their winning streak to four matches with a 3-1 victory over the Blue Demons at the DePaul Invitational. Auburn dropped the first set 23-25, before winning the next three 25-20, 25-15, and 25-12.
The Tigers started slow in the first set with three unforced errors in the first seven points. Junior Belle Patrick struck back with a cross-court kill for the Tigers' first point. Two more kills came along for the Tigers in this first set by junior Anastasija Ivkovic, sophomore Greer Chambless, and an ace added by junior Grace Havlicek.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Blue Demons’ blocking duo of Kendall Timme and Jocelyn Paige rejected Auburn at the net for back-to-back blocks. DePaul continued to capitalize on Auburn’s 12 attacking errors, more than the Tigers committed in their previous game against Central Michigan University.
Following Havlicek’s ace in the middle of the first set, the Tigers went on a five-point streak to take the lead 15-13 over the Blue Demons. But Auburn's continued errors and back-and-forth dueling between the schools allowed DePaul to rally and win the first set 25-23.
Auburn struck first in the second set with an ace from senior Symone Sims. DePaul went on a 3-0 run over the Tigers before a big block from Ivkovic and Havlicek ended the Blue Demons' streak. The Tigers then went on a 5-0 scoring run, the fifth point coming from freshman Reese Shugart’s ace.
Shugart added another kill to help solidify Auburn’s 15-12 lead in the second set. As the Tigers and Blue Demons went back and forth, junior Kate Mansfield and Chambless recorded consecutive kills to lengthen the gap to an 18-13 lead.
The Blue Demons picked up the pace and scored some much-needed points after several errors from the Tigers, an ace from DePaul senior Leonor Polezzi, two kills from Timme, and a kill from both sophomores Isabela Tavares-Salomon and Martina Diana.
After DePaul’s short run toward the end of the second set, the Tigers responded with a 4-0 run, holding the Blue Demons to 20 points and taking the second set 25-20.
Now tied at one set each, DePaul took the first serve and point of the third set, courtesy of Timme’s 10th kill of the match.
After steady rallying between the teams, Auburn went on a 6-0 run to take a 12-6 lead. However, Chambless punctuated Auburn’s lead with another cross-court kill, her 13th of the match.
Consistent streaks for each team led to a set-ending service error by Timme, with the Tigers taking the set 25-15.
Sims started the fourth set with a powerful serve that was eventually returned by a Timme kill. Both teams started with sets of kills and big plays to begin a close fourth set, tied at 5-5 after a hard-fought point for the Blue Demons.
The Tigers used a six-point run and a four-point run to build an 11-point lead and pull away from the Blue Demons.
Chambless recorded her 17th and final kill of the match to put Auburn one point away from taking the set at 24-12. The Tigers won the match three sets to one after Diana’s attack error gave Auburn the final point on the Blue Demons’ side of the court.
Auburn’s Patrick, Ivkovic, and Chambless all recorded double-digit kills for the day, with Havlicek and Ivkovic each serving three aces each.
The Tigers will make their way back to the Jungle for their first home matches of the year later this week. The Tigers will host the Alabama Showdown at Neville Arena, featuring matchups against several in-state competitors, starting with the UAB Blazers on Thursday, September 17, at 6 p.m. CDT.
