CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Auburn volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (22-25, 19-25,14-25) contest to Florida Gulf Coast on Friday afternoon at the Knight Complex to open the Hurricane Invitational.
"FGCU is an outstanding team and it is apparent why they have been successful," head coach Rick Nold said. "I really liked how we started out the match, but we just couldn't hold momentum against this hard-hitting FGCU team."
Sophomore Val Green paced the Tigers offensively with 11 kills, while senior Enija Bidzane chipped in eight. Junior Jaeden Brown, returning to her home state, collected a pair of kills, rotating in for the final set.
Defensively, junior Payton White led the Tigers in digs for the third time in the young season with eight. Sophomore setter Marissa Hines contributed with seven, while sophomore Bella Rosenthall chipped in six.
Florida Gulf Coast (5-0) was led by reigning ASUN Player of the Year, Courtney VanLiew, with 18 kills. Sophomore Dana Axner paced the Eagles defensively with 17 digs.
Auburn (1-3) continues play in the Hurricane Invite tomorrow against South Florida. The Tigers and Bulls will face off at 10 a.m. CT.
SET ONE
FGCU started the match on a 3-0 push, and led by as many as four early. The Tigers answered back to tie the set at 14 when Bidzane collected her third kill. P. White earned her first ace of the match to give Auburn its first lead at 16-15. The Eagles would use a pair of Auburn errors late in the set to go up 1-0 in the match, winning 25-22.
SET TWO
Auburn opened the set on a 5-1 run including two kills from Green. FGCU rallied back to tie the stanza at 12 on a Tiger miscue and the two teams exchanged points to be all squared at 15. FGCU then used a 5-0 push to take command and went on to take the set, 25-19.
SET THREE
With the Tigers down early, Brown picked up her first kill of the match to pull the Tigers within two at 4-6. The Tigers would not get any closer as FGCU closed the match on a 10-2 run.