AU ROUNDUP: Soccer falls to Cal in overtime to end season in first round

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Auburn’s soccer season came to a disappointing end Friday night as it dropped a 2-1, overtime heartbreaker to California in the NCAA Tournament first round at the Seminole Soccer Complex on the campus of Florida State.

California netted the game-winner in the 98th minute to send Auburn home, finishing the season with a 10-9-3 record.

“We played great. I don’t think the shots (22-12 in favor of Cal) are indicative of the match at all, nor is the score, unfortunately” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “I thought the second half we completely dominated. We had a goal called back, but I thought we really played well. They scored a good goal in overtime and unfortunately that’s the way those things go sometimes.”

“It was a very even game. They won the first half and we won the second half. It came down to overtime. They made a great play and that’s all it takes in overtime is making one great play. It is a tough loss,” Auburn sophomore midfielder and First Team All-SEC selection Katy Frierson said.

Lisa Kevorkian netted the game-winner, her eighth goal of the season, finishing off an Alex Morgan cross from 5 yards out to extend Cal’s (11-8-1) season at least until Sunday, where it will play top-seeded Florida State, a 4-1 winner over Southeastern Louisiana in the opening match.

Down 1-0 at the half, Auburn came out clicking on all cylinders at the start of the second period but couldn’t light the scoreboard until Heather Havron tied the game at 1-1.

Auburn’s regular corner kicker on shots from the goalkeeper’s right, she bent in a shot in the 59th minute for her first career goal and her 8th point of the season. Mary Coffed earned the corner by taking the ball deep into Cal’s 18 and forcing a deflection off of a Cal back to set up Auburn’s sixth of nine corners in the match.

“Heather’s got a great corner. She is so consistent on them and she just did what she usually does and it went in for us. We had a lot of pressure in the box, a lot of numbers. It was a great goal,” Katy Frierson said.

Auburn seemingly took a 2-1 lead of its own in the 85th minute when Frierson sent a corner into the box that Auburn headed in, but a foul was whistled on the Tigers, nullifying the tally and keeping the game tied at a goal apiece.

From the 82nd until the 87th minute, Auburn had four quality scoring chances, with Coffed putting one on frame that Cal goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini saved, Caitlin King getting a shot blocked and one save and the nullified goal.

Morgan put the first score on the board when she went one-on-one with Christine Schweer a step inside the 18, driving towards the center of the box before turning and firing in her 14th goal of the season in the games’ 32nd minute.

The goal came on Cal’s eighth shot of the match and the fifth off the foot of Morgan, three of which went on frame. Morgan took six of Cal’s nine first-half shots and finished with 10 for the match.

Auburn took six first-half shots, forcing Pellegrini into two saves, both coming in the first four minutes of the match as the Tigers went on the offensive quickly but came up empty.

Chelsea Yauch registered the first shot following a Frierson corner kick in the second minute and then Frierson got off her own shot two minutes later.

Steph Fransoso, playing in her first match since Sept. 27 at Ole Miss, put a shot on frame in the 41st minute following a Havron corner but the Cal defense was able to step in front of it on the line, keeping Auburn from scoring the equalizer right before the half.

Volleyball rallies for win over Tennessee
Down two sets, the Auburn volleyball squad battled back and defeated Tennessee, 3-2 (11-15, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-15), on Friday at the Student Activities Center.

The win marks just the second time this decade the Tigers have bested the Lady Vols.

“It was a great, gutsy win for our young squad,” head coach Wade Benson said. “It showed us that not giving up pays off. They worked very hard today and all week at practice. It is a nice victory for this team.”

With the win, Auburn improves to 15-12 overall and 7-9 in the SEC, while Tennessee is now 19-7 and 12-4 in conference play.

“We stuck it out and fought hard as a team,” junior Morgan Johns said. “We came together and matured a lot as a squad over the season and this game showed it tonight.”

Johns led Auburn offensively with 17 kills, while libero Liz Crouch finished with a team-best 19 digs. Freshman Sarah Bullock picked up her sixth double-double of the year, finishing with 10 kills and 11 digs.

Classmate Katherine Culwell added 10 kills and four blocks for the Tigers.

Setting duo Christina Solverson and Sara Shanks each recorded double-doubles on the evening. Solverson had a career-high 18 digs to go with 27 assists, while Shanks finished with 12 assists and 15 digs.

Junior Lauren Mellor led the squad with six blocks and Alyssa Davis added four.

Tennessee’s Nikki Fowler finished with a match-high 22 kills and 15 digs. Kayla Jeter tallied 15 kills, while libero Chloe Goldman had a match-best 23 digs. Setter Kelsey Mahoney recorded 53 assists and 19 digs for the Lady Vols.

Tennessee opened the match with 4-0 run in the first set and pushed forward to go up 10-3. A kill from Bullock cut the Lady Vols’ lead to 6 at 10-4, but the visiting team put together another big run to take a 15-5 lead. The Lady Vols went on to take the set, 25-11.

A handful of Tennessee attack errors, with kills from Johns and Davis gave Auburn a 6-3 lead at the start of Set 2. A small run brought the Lady Vols within 1 at 10-9, but a 5-1 Tiger rally gave Auburn the 15-10 advantage. Tennessee fought back and tied the set at 16 and with the set locked at 19, a 6-1 Tennessee run gave the Lady Vols the 25-20 win.

Tennessee started the third set just as the first, opening with a 4-1 lead. A kill from Culwell, however, brought Auburn within a point at 5-4 and a service ace from Crouch tied the set a 9 apiece.

A pair of Tennessee errors and a Culwell kill pushed Auburn to a 20-18 lead. A trio of kills from Johns and a pair from Bullock propelled the Tigers to a 25-22 set three win.

Down a point in Set 4 at 8-7, a kill from Shanks sparked a 3-point rally to give Auburn its first lead of the set at 10-8. Another big Tiger run gave Auburn its largest lead at 18-12 and a kill from Davis solidified a 25-21 victory.

In the final set, Tennessee came out with a quick 6-3 lead and went up by as much as 4 at 10-6. A pair of kills from Davis brought Auburn within 3 at 11-8 and a kill from Mellor closed the gap even more, seeing Tennessee up just 13-11.

Facing match point, a kill by Johns and a service ace from Chanelle Clark kept the Tigers alive and a Lady Vols setting error tied the set at 14.

With momentum on Auburn’s side, two more kills from Johns pushed Auburn to a 17-15 match win.

The Tigers return to the Student Activities Center on Sunday as they host No. 11 Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free to the public.

No. 1 equestrian falls at No. 2 Georgia
BISHOP, Ga. — The No. 1 Auburn equestrian team (6-2) was handed its second loss of the season Friday as No. 2 Georgia (6-1) defeated the Tigers 12-8.

The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 7-3 in Hunt Seat and tied 5-5 in Western.

“Our Western Horsemanship did a great job in pulling out a win,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “We didn’t do our job in Hunt Seat to beat Georgia however. They ran a great meet, rode hard and just beat us. I know our girls well enough to know they’ll come back on a mission when our season starts back in January.”

Georgia won Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences, 4-1, behind MVP Carly Anthony, who defeated Dottie Grubb 85-81. Other Bulldog winners were Kacy Jenkins over Anna Schierholz, 75-60, Emma Lipman over Anna Becker, 82-79, and Michelle Morris over Grace Socha, 80-74. Maggie McAlary topped Grace Rogers, 84-72, for Auburn’s lone win.

Georgia won Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat, 3-2, behind MVP Rogers, who defeated Chelsea Anheuser, 80-65. Other Bulldog winners were Anthony over Becker, 77-60, and Morris over Lindsay Portela, 77-69. Tiger winners included Katie Breedlove over Lipman, 69-61, and McAlary over Daisy Whelan 78-61.

Auburn won Western Horsemanship, 4-1, behind MVP Kristin Hansen, who defeated Dana Wilson, 73-72. Other Taking wins for the Tigers were Indy Roper over Ali Eidson, 71.5-65, Bailey Dymond over Lauren Love, 74-73.5, and Jessica Jones over Maria Salazar, 72-64.5. Alicia Shrum took the Bulldogs’ lone win over Kylie Miller, 72-71.5.

Georgia won Western Reining, 4-1, behind MVP Sarah Locker, who defeated Jones, 76-74. Also winning for UGA were Kelly Truesdell over Jillian Fuller, 72-71.5, Dee St. Hilaire over Kim Pope, 70.5-70, and Marianne Grebel over Paige Monfore, 69.5-67. Lyndsey Jordan got past Becca Haaland, 70-69.5, for Auburn’s only win.

Auburn returns to action in the spring against Oklahoma State on Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. at the Auburn Equestrian Center.

Cross country heads to South Regional
The 2009 Auburn cross country squads continue their 2009 campaign by heading to the NCAA South Region Championship in Tuscaloosa today.

The Tigers will look to continue the recent trend of sending athletes to the NCAA Championship meet on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.

The regional meet will be run on Harry Pritchett Course, the same course that the Tigers ran on for the Crimson Classic on Sept. 18.

In the race, Ben Cheruiyot placed second with a time of 24:29.59 and Felix Kiboiywo placed fifth with a time of 24:55.00 in the 8k race.

The weather for today in Tuscaloosa calls for near-perfect running conditions, as partly cloudy skies will go along with a high in the low 70s.

The meet is one of nine regional races going on throughout the country, and features 32 women’s teams as well as 32 mens teams, including eight SEC teams in both the men’s and women’s race.

Other teams participating in the meet litter the latest USTFCCCA National Rankings. The men’s side boasts No. 6 Alabama, No. 22 Arkansas and No. 25 Auburn. On the women’s side, No. 3 Florida, No. 9 Florida St., No. 28 Arkansas and No. 29 Tennessee crack the latest top-30 rankings.

Senior Jean-Pierre Weerts surprised at the SEC meet, placing fourth with a time of 24:41.00. At last season’s meet, Weerts placed 39th, a 35-place improvement from a year ago.

Senior All-American Felix Kiboiywo is finally hitting his form after an injury-plagued early portion of the season, as he finished as Auburn’s top-finisher for the first time this season after placing third in the race with a time of 24:37.08. Kiboiywo captured last year’s South Regional title with a time of 30:45.91. As a team, Auburn placed second at last season’s meet with 49 points.

Junior Holly Knight was Auburn’s top finisher for the fifth time this season after placing sixth with a time of 21:26.58 at the SEC Championships.

Stephanie Barnes was Auburn’s second finisher for the fourth time this season after placing eighth 21:34.30 at the SEC Championship meet.

Knight will look to defend her 2008 regional title.

Senior Laurel Pritchard will look to improve on her 31st-place finish from last season’s meet.

As a team, Auburn placed fifth with a total of 156 points. The Auburn cross country teams will enter meet six of the season with national and regional rankings, the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association announced earlier this week.

The men will enter this weekend’s NCAA South Regional meet with a No. 25 national ranking and a No. 3 South Region ranking behind SEC foe Alabama.

The women enter the race with a No. 7 ranking in the south region, trailing Florida State as well as SEC opponents Florida and Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

In order to qualify for the NCAA Championships, a team must place in the top-two for an automatic berth, followed by 13 at-large selections that are given to teams in the nine regions throughout the country. In determining automatic selections on an individual basis, all participants from the two teams earning automatic bids are removed from the process, and the next eight individual finishers from each region are given invitations to run at the NCAA Championships.