On the final day of the Diet Coke Classic, the Auburn Tigers delivered a strong performance against the Long Island University Sharks in Minnesota. This game was a redemption opportunity for Auburn following their loss in three sets to #19 Minnesota the night before.
The first set started with the Tigers playing strong offense and setting up several impressive plays. Auburn Volleyball utilized a 6-2 offense with Kalei Edson and Peyton Dunn. Both setters facilitated impressive sets for the attackers, causing the LIU defense to struggle to read them on the court. As a result, Auburn won the first set 25-15.
Later in the second set, the Long Island Sharks struggled with communication defensively. Most of the defensive errors happened in the center of the court where multiple players were confused about who was going for the ball. Ultimately, those communication errors led to Auburn scoring multiple points off hits and tips. Both outside hitters for Auburn, Madison Scheer and Bel Zimmerman, tied for 12 kills each. Auburn won the second set 25-14.
At the beginning of the third set, the Long Island Sharks seemed to find their groove together as a team for the first time in the match. Their defense started working together and were able to dig Auburn’s hard hits.
Towards the end of the match, the third set was a defensive battle with both teams exchanging set points. Service errors were critical coming down to the wire; LIU had nine serving errors for the match, while Auburn had seven. In the end, the Tigers won the third set 32-30 and swept Long Island 3-0.
Auburn volleyball will play Samford in the Alabama Showdown in Birmingham on Sep. 19th.
