The Auburn volleyball squad captured the 2010 War Eagle Invitational title Saturday night with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-19) victory over Georgia Southern at the Student Activities Center. The win puts Auburn at 3-0 on the early season, while the Eagles fall to 2-1 overall.

“Overall, I am very pleased with how we performed in the first tournament of the year,” head coach Wade Benson said.

“We know what have to work on, and we have to get back to the office Monday and Tuesday to get ready for what is ahead.”

Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Bullock was named tournament Most Valuable Player for her performance on the weekend, while senior Liz Crouch and junior Christina Solverson earned spots on the all-tournament team.

“The first tournament is always going to be a little bit shaky, but the team came out really strong this weekend,” Bullock said. “After the first set, we knew that we had to step up and we came out with a winning attitude.”

Bullock tallied a match-high 18 kills and a .484 attack percentage to lead the Tigers. Crouch had 17 digs, while Solverson finished with 36 assists. Junior Kelly Fidero had a double-digit kill performance for Auburn, finishing with 11 kills on the night. Senior Lauren Mellor recorded one solo block and four block assists to lead the Tiger defense.

Georgia Southern’s Bethany Sanford finished with 13 kills and nine digs, while setter Kate Van Dyke tallied 33 assists and nine digs.

The team opened day two of the tournament with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-13) victory over UT Martin.

The day’s match saw a handful of new faces see playing time, as freshmen Camila Jersonsky and Kathia Rud and redshirt freshman Sarah Wroblicky each got a starting nod, while freshman Chelsea Wintzinger and redshirt freshman Chloe Rowand saw action on the court as well.

“We knew it was going to be one of those matches where the young players needed to get the jitters out,” head coach Wade Benson said. “As we got into the third set, the chemistry started to build.
This match will turn out to be very important in future for this team.”

Senior Jonelle Wallace and junior Kelly Fidero each finished with a team-best eight kills, while Wallace had a team-high three block assists. Rud recorded seven kills and eight digs and Wroblicky also had eight digs on the day. Wintzinger finished with 16 assists for the Tigers.