Tigers remain perfect in five-set thriller with Santa Clara

AUBURN, Ala. – After the Tigers took the first two sets, Santa Clara (2-5) stormed back with a pair of set wins of their own, but Auburn volleyball (6-0) remained unbeaten in a gritty, five-set (25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 20-25, 15-12) victory at Auburn Arena on Sunday.

The win was Auburn's first in five sets since knocking off South Florida on Sept. 7, 2019.

"This was the toughest team with played this season," said head coach Brent Crouch. "They proved it against South Carolina and Clemson earlier this week. To beat a team of that caliber is really going to push us in the right direction. It's going to generate more belief in what we're doing. They exposed some areas where we need to get better, but what I was most proud of was that even when they exposed those things, we didn't let it derail us emotionally. We kept coming back and did the right things in the fifth set to win. It was a great win."

Junior Rebekah Rath returned to form as she led the Tigers offensively with 24 kills, closing the match with a .339 hitting percentage. Rath is the first Tiger to record at least 20 kills in a match since Tatum Shipes versus Ole Miss on Oct. 26, 2018.

Rath picked up her second double-double of the season as she chipped in 10 digs. She also recorded three blocks, one assists and one ace for 27.0 total points.

Graduate student Liz Reich set a season high with 17 kills against the Broncos. Senior Val Green match her season-best output with 12.

Picking up her second double-double of the season, sophomore Jackie Barrett dished out a career-high 44 assists while adding 11 digs. Barrett was strong at the service line with two aces and added five stuffs at the net.

Freshman Jordan Sinness came off the bench as a server for the Tigers, recording a season high two aces.
 
Defensively, Bella Rosenthall paced the way with her second straight 20+ digs match. Rosenthall totaled 20 against the Broncos. Freshman Fallan Lanham set a season high with 14 digs and also recorded her first collegiate kill.

The SEC leader in blocks continues to make teams suffer at the net with 9.0 total. Tatum Shipes joined Barrett with five blocks each.

SET ONE
It was back-and-forth action early on in the opening stanza with seven ties before Santa Clara pulled away with a 4-0 run. Rath kept the Tigers close with back-to-back kills to pull Auburn back within one. The Broncos took advantage of Auburn miscues to pulled up a three-point lead, 16-19, and force a Tiger timeout. Reich and Green recorded four consecutive kills to put the Tigers in front 21-20 and force a late Bronco timeout. After a kill from Reich, Rath and senior Elif Su Yavuz recorded a block at the set to get to set point. A Bronco attack error gave the Tigers a 25-21 victory.  
 
SET TWO
In similar fashion, set two was another back-and-forth affair through the early stages. With the match tied 16-all, Auburn took advantage with back-to-back blocks from the combo of Shipes and Barrett to force a Santa Clara timeout. The Broncos would battle back as the two squads tied three times in the late stages. With the score 24-all, Rath put the set away with a kill and an ace at the service line.
 
SET THREE
It was all Broncos early as Santa Clara built an impressive eight-point lead, 17-9, and seemed poised for an easy set victory. The Tigers did not go down without a fight and battle throughout the late stages and fought off four straight set points before the Broncos pulled away, 25-23.
 
SET FOUR
The Broncos once again jumped out early offensively and was able to build up a six-point lead, 16-10, to force a Tiger timeout. The Tigers dug deep with a pair of kills from Barrett and Green to cut the score to, 17-15. The Tigers couldn't find momentum late as the Broncos tied the match up with a 25-20 set victory.
 
SET FIVE
Auburn jumped out to a 3-0 lead with help from a Yavuz block and a kill from Rath. Santa Clara stormed back to tie the set, 3-3, before a Bronco service error and a pair of Tiger blocks put Auburn back in front by three. Santa Clara pieced together a 3-0 run in the late stages to tie the set 12-all and force a Tiger timeout. Three straight kills from Rath out of the break put the set and the match away.

UP NEXT
Auburn continues its homestand with its final weekend of non-conference play. Auburn will welcome Florida A&M, Nicholls State and Belmont for a tournament at Auburn Arena on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers open the tournament on Friday versus Florida A&M at 12:30 p.m. CT.