AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - THe Auburn Tigers (12-7 4-5 SEC) swept the Georiga Bulldogs (5-12, 1-5 SEC) in straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-20) Thursday at Stegeman Coliseum.
Val Green led the Tigers with 16 kills, her second most recorded in a match this season. The senior boasted a .469 hitting percentage and accounted for 16.5 of Auburn’s points. Green also added three digs and a block.
Green wasn’t the only Tiger with double-digit kills, Liz Reich recorded 11 kills for Auburn and added six blocks to the Tigers total.
Tatum Shipes recorded a team-leading eight blocks, making her just six short of the single-season record of 119 held by Camila Jersonsky which was set in 2012. The senior also added four kills and an assist for the Tigers.
Jackie Barrett led the Tigers in both assists with 27 and in digs with 17. Bella Rosenthall followed Barrett in both categories with eight and 14 respectively.
Set One
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start in set one, going up 7-2 thanks to three kills by Kayla Rivera. Auburn followed that up with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 7-all. After trading points, a trio of small runs in which Val Green had three kills gave Auburn the lead at 15-12 heading into a media timeout. The squads went back and forth for the next 10 points before a Fallan Lanham ace put the Tigers up 21-17 and forced a Bulldog timeout. Georiga put together a 3-0 run late but it wasn’t enough to stop Auburn as they went on to win the set 25-21.
Set Two
Auburn started out the set with a 4-0 run highlighted by an ace by Elif Yavuz. The Tigers then pushed the score to 8-2 to force a Georiga timeout. Following the timeout, the Bulldogs went on a 3-0 before a kill by Tatum Shipes stopped the run. Georiga would go on another 3-0 run to make the score 10-8 before back-to-back kills from Val Green extended the lead to four. The teams would go back and forth except for one 2-0 run in which Auburn’s Liz Reich had back-to-back kills to make to push the score to 17-12 before a Georiga timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Bulldogs went on a 5-2 run with two kills from Amber Stivrins to bring the lead within two. The Tigers would go on to finish strong with a 3-0 run to end the set.
Set Three
Lanham starts the set with an ace for Auburn before Georiga went on a 3-0 run with a kill from Stivrins. The Tigers would push the score to 5-all before the squads split points before Auburn finally broke the streak to make the score 13-11 before a Georiga timeout. Coming out from the timeout the Tigers went on a 3-1 run before the Bulldogs called another to regroup. Georgia came out from the timeout with a kill from Clara Brower. Auburn retaliated with a 5-0 run with three kills making the score 22-15. Georiga attempted to claw back into the set to force a fourth set but Auburn was able to hold on with a final score of 25-20.
Up Next
The Tigers will look to sweep the series against Georiga. The teams face off again Friday at 6 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. The game can be streamed on SEC Network+.
