AU ROUNDUP: Soccer blanks Vanderbilt

Caitlin King scored Auburn’s quickest goal of the season, knocking in the first of her two goals in the match’s 7th minute, as Auburn picked up a crucial, 3-0 win over Vanderbilt on Friday night.

Katy Frierson had three assists on the night as Auburn moved back to .500 overall and within 2 points of Ole Miss for second in the SEC West at 6-6-3, 3-4-0.

“I am really proud of our team. It’s tough to go on a three-game losing streak like we did against three of the best teams in the conference, and the response tonight makes me really excited for the last four matches of the season,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We did everything we needed to do. We played with energy, we attacked with numbers and we scored some great goals.”

King, who had not registered a goal in over a month, snapped her personal drought at the 6:39 mark, firing a shot upper 90 on Vanderbilt goalkeeper Rachel Bachtel from just outside the 18-yard box for her third goal of the season to give Auburn an early 1-0 lead. It was also
Auburn’s first goal since a 2-1 win over Arkansas on Oct. 2 after going scoreless in the last three matches.

Just under eight minutes later Mary Coffed pushed the Auburn advantage to two goals when she went 1-on-1 with Bachtel off of a Frierson feed, ripping the shot from the top of the 18 for her third goal of the season.

King salted the game away in the 65th minute when she found herself going 1-on-1 with Bachtel as the two raced for a ball at the top of the 18.
King switched directions on Bachtel, who slid trying to get the stop, allowing King to fire off an uncontested shot for her fourth goal of the
season and the 14th of her career.

Frierson, who also had the second assist on both of King’s goals, now has seven assists on the year and 14 in her career, which is tied for ninth all-time at Auburn with Chrissy Culver (2001-04) and Megan Stam (1998-01).

Ashley Marks and Chelsea Yauch each had their first assists of the season. Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard and Bachtel each made five saves.

Auburn returns to the field at 1 p.m. Sunday when it plays host to Kentucky.

Equestrian rides past Texas A&M
The Auburn equestrian team (4-1) defeated Texas A&M (1-1), 10-8, Friday at the Auburn Equestrian Center. The Tigers defeated the Aggies, 8-2, in Hunt Seat and lost, 6-2, in Western.

Auburn swept Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences, 5-0, behind MVP Grace Socha, who defeated Jackie O’Connell 89-72. Other Tiger winners included Dottie Grubb over Lindsay Smith, 84-74, Anna Becker over Brooke Coleman, 83-78, Maggie McAlary over Maggie Earle, 92-77, and
Anna Schierholz over Lia Chafee, 86-85.

Auburn won Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat, 3-2, behind MVP Maggie McAlary, who defeated Hannah Siolbelhman, 79-61. Other Tiger winners included Lindsay Portela over Brittany Dodson, 76-63, and Katie Breedlove over Christina Heine, 85-67.

Texas A&M won Western Horsemanship, 3-2, behind MVP Carey Nowacek, who defeated Bailey Dymond, 73.5-68. Tiger winners included Indy Roper over Kelsey Adams, 73-69, and Kristin Hansen over Dana Hall, 68.5-0 (0 refers to a no score because of a penalty).

Auburn travels to Bethany, Conn., and Dover, Del., to face Sacred Heart and Delaware State on Nov. 7-8.

Volleyball falls to Florida, 3-0
The Auburn volleyball team put ninth-ranked Florida to the test, but could not pull out the win in the 3-0 (19-25, 22-25, 21-25) loss on Friday at the Student Activities Center. With the loss, the Tigers fell to 11-8 overall and 3-5 in the SEC, while the Gators improved to 13-3 and 7-2 in conference play.

“This match was really anybody’s match and we did some good things tonight,” Wade Benson, head volleyball coach, said. “We are definitely in these tough matches, but we’re young and just not at that point where we can confidently come away with the win.

“Other teams are now seeing that it isn’t easy to come to Auburn anymore. We’re going to put up a fight and that is a major positive for our team.”

Freshman Sarah Bullock recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing with a team-high 10 kills and 11 digs. Junior Morgan Johns added nine kills, while sophomore Kelly Fidero and freshman Katherine Culwell finished with eight and seven kills, respectively.

Auburn concludes the weekend with a Sunday afternoon match-up against South Carolina at the Student Activities Center. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. and admission is free.

Men’s golf 14th after Day 1
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The Auburn men’s golf team (300) finished Friday’s opening round of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in 14th place. The three-day, 36-hole event is held at The Ridges Golf Club in Johnson City, Tenn.

Senior Cole Moreland led all Tigers, carding an even-par 72 to finish the day tied for 18th.

“We really struggled on the par fives today,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. “We got off to a good start but the 10th hole really took the wind out of our sails.”

The Tigers made the turn at even-par, with sophomore John Stembridge leading the way at 2-under. Stembridge and fellow sophomore Will McCurdy, along with freshman David Zickler, all landed all landed close approaches to the 10th pin, only to watch as their ball trickled into a creek running the length of the hole.

McCurdy (75) finished the day tied for 40th followed by Zickler (76) tied for 53rd, Kopsick (77) tied for 61st and Stembridge (79) tied for 74th.

No. 8 Oregon State (286) holds the team lead. Oregon State’s Diego Velasquez (66) holds the individual lead, followed by Wake Forest’s Daniel Meggs (68) and Duke’s Wes Roach (68) in a tie for second.

The Tigers are set to tee off today at 7:30 a.m. with North Carolina and UAB.

Gross wins home run derby
Gabe Gross cranked out a total of 26 home runs to win the annual Home Run Derby but the real winner on the night was the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lee County as over $5,000 was raised for the club through donations from fans and sponsors at Plainsman Park on Friday night.

An event record $5,044.75 was raised at the annual event, which was sponsored by Ted Bryant of Farmers Insurance, Locos Grill and Pub, Chick-fil-A and Country’s BBQ and drew 1,715 fans through the gates.

Gross, who was an All-American outfield for the Tigers, hit 15 home runs in the first round, equaling current Tiger Kevin Patterson’s output, while Ryan Jenkins and David Ross each advanced to the finals with nine homers.

In the final round, Gross knocked out 11 homers.

Other celebrities to take part in the home run derby were Bo Jackson, Tim Hudson, Frank Sanders, Coach Hal Baird and Todd Jones.

In the team scrimmage following the home run derby, Brian Fletcher hit two solo home runs and Creede Simpson stroked three doubles to power the offenses. Jon Luke Jacobs threw four shutout innings to lead the visiting Tigers over the home Tigers, 8-6.