Mississippi State
Auburn
Tigers Top State In Five-Game Thriller At Auburn
November 10, 2006 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics (PDF)
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn erased a 28-24 Mississippi State lead in game three Friday night and went on to claim a closely-contested 3-2 win (30-18, 23-30, 33-31, 19-30, 15-12) and earned a split of the two-match season series. The win snapped a six-match losing skid for the Tigers (13-15, 5-12 SEC) while the Bulldogs (16-11, 7-10 SEC) slipped to 1-2 in five-game matches despite 22-kill efforts by Orshi Kriegel and Martina Gregusova.
The Tigers took command of the match early, bolting to 5-1 advantage en route to a convincing 30-18 win in the opening set. Junior outside hitter Rachel Shanks delivered Auburn's first five kills and closed the set with seven kills. The Tigers held a .429 to .118 edge in hitting percentage over the Bulldogs, who got three kills from setter Eva Kriegel.
State warmed up on offense in game two, powered by freshman Martina Gregusova. The three-time SEC Freshman of the Week tallied seven kills in 10 error-free attempts as MSU parlayed a .324 offensive performance into a match-tying 30-23 win in game two. Jamie Joyner delivered a block and the first of her four kills in the stanza as State bounded out to a 3-0 lead. The Tigers claimed a brief lead at 11-10 before a 4-0 Bulldog run put State ahead to stay. Jacob Whitney led an Auburn charge that closed the gap to a point at 20-19. MSU closed the game with a 4-0 run to end the set.
A pair of Bulldog hitting errors and an Auburn service ace gave the Tigers an early 3-0 lead to open game three. A kill by Eva Kriegel pulled the Bulldogs even at 7-7 and Orshi Kriegel followed with a kill that gave MSU its first lead of the set. State held the upper hand for much of the remainder of the game, taking a 28-24 lead with a kill by Eva Kriegel. But Auburn battled back, fighting off a pair of game-point serves to pull even at 29-29. The score was knotted at 30-30 and 31-31 before the Tigers closed the set, scoring on a hitting error by Orshi Kriegel and a kill by Jessica Glover for a 33-31 win. Orshi Kriegel's six kills paced MSU, but the Bulldogs were not able to overcome a match-high 11 hitting errors and five-kill showings by Glover and Shanks.
Except for three early-game ties, the Bulldogs led throughout the fourth game. State used a 7-1 run midway in the period to take a 21-12 lead and cruised on to tie the match at two games apiece with a 30-19 win. The Bulldogs held Auburn to four kills in the frame as the Tiger offense registered a minus .143 hitting percentage.
In the deciding fifth game, Auburn used a pair of service aces to take a 5-2 lead and advanced the lead to 8-5 at the break. The Bulldogs fought back, reeling four straight points to take a 9-8 advantage. It would be the Bulldogs' only lead of the final game, as the Tigers rode the hitting of Rachel Shanks to a match-clinching 15-12 win.
Gregusova tallied 22 kills and hit .33 while Orshi Kriegel his .245 on her 22-kill effort. Kriegel added 18 digs for her team-leading 12th double-double of the year. Gregusova added 16 digs to reach double-double status. Jamie Joyner notched her second double-double of the year with 10 kills and 12 digs while Megan Lukasek aided the defensive effort with 12 digs.
Shanks paced Auburn with 18 kills and Glover added 17.
State nipped Auburn in hitting .200 to .199 and held a 72-60 advantage in kills and a 69 to 59 lead in digs. But the Tigers out-blocked the Bulldogs 15-7 in total team blocks, with Julie Bosler and Whitney Jacob combining for one solo and 13 assisted blocks.
Auburn also led MSU at the serving stripe with 10 aces. MSU, the SEC's top serving team, managed but three aces and were charged with 10 service errors.
The Bulldogs close out their SEC weekend series and their 2006 road schedule in Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, taking on No. 7 Florida in a 12 p.m. (CST) match at the O'Connell Center.
