KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Auburn volleyball team capped the first day of the Western Michigan Tournament with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 25-18) sweep of host Western Michigan Friday night in University Arena. Auburn improved to 5-5 on the season with the win.
"We talked about how important first contact is after this afternoon's match and we did a good job getting Western Michigan out of system," head coach Rick Nold said. "That allowed our offense to get into rhythm.
"A lot of what we've learned over the last four or five matches is what style of play we can use to be successful," Nold added "We need maintain our aggressive serve and have a clean offense. We did that tonight and I'm proud of how we stuck to the plan."
A pair of Tigers in junior Chesney McClellan and senior Enija Bidzane put up double-digit kills on the night. McClellan finished with 12, while Bidzane chipped in 10. Sophomores Tatum Shipes and Val Green added six, while junior Jaeden Brown had five.
Junior setter Morgan Kull had a career-high 32 assists for the Tigers. Sophomore Payton White led all student-athletes with 21 digs, while Shipes had 11.
The Tiger blockers combined for nine blocks on the night. McClellan tied a season best with five and Brown finished with three.
Auburn closes out the weekend Saturday with a 12 p.m. CT contest vs. IUPUI in University Arena.
SET ONE
Auburn started out strong with a 4-2 lead, but the Broncos battled back to lock it up at 8-all and pushed a 12-9 lead. Behind tough serving from Shipes, the Tigers responded with a six-point run to flip the scoreboard in AU's favor, 15-13. The teams battled back and forth and Auburn earned set point at 24-23. After a handful of sideouts, a kill from Green followed by a Tiger block gave AU the set, 28-26.
SET TWO
Auburn capitalized on Bronco errors in the first half of the set to go ahead 15-7. A kill by Shipes followed by a Green ace made it 17-11 and a McClellan block put the Tigers up 19-13 before WMU pushed a five-point run to make it 19-18. AU, however, closed out the set with kills from McClellan and Brown to take it, 25-20.
SET THREE
The Tigers used momentum and big swings from McClellan out of the middle to take a 10-4 lead. Three-straight kills by Bidzane and one from Shipes made it 18-11 and another McClellan strike put the visitors up 23-15. Auburn won the match with a 25-18 victory.