AU ROUNDUP: Equestrian ranked No. 1

The Auburn equestrian team (4-1) has moved to the top spot in the latest Women’s Intercollegiate Equestrian National Coaches Poll.

The Tigers moved from third to first after their win against then fifth-ranked and defending Western national champion Texas A&M on Oct. 16.

“We are always proud to be considered a top team, but the busiest times are yet to come,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “I’m just happiest that we are winning in both Hunt Seat and Western.”

The Tigers replaced top-ranked South Carolina (1-1) after defeating eighth-ranked Texas Christian 13-6 and sixth-ranked Texas A&M 10-8.

In the latest poll released Oct. 20, Auburn is ranked first (99 points), South Carolina second (89), Georgia third (81), Oklahoma State fourth (66), Kansas State fifth (65), Texas A&M sixth (64), Baylor seventh (50), Texas Christian eighth (44), Fresno State ninth (18) and South Dakota State 10th (17).

Also receiving votes was New Mexico State with nine, Tennessee-Martin with two and Delaware State with one.

The collegiate coaches competing under the Varsity Equestrian Championship umbrella initiated the national poll. The poll will be released bi-monthly with the next announcement scheduled for Nov. 3.

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

Volleyball beats Bama
The Auburn volleyball team knocked off rival Alabama, sweeping the Crimson Tide, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-22), on Friday at the Student Activities Center.

The win marks just the second time since 1999 that the Tigers have defeated their in-state foe.

“It was a good match and I thought we came out really prepared,” head coach Wade Benson said. “You could see it in the energy level of the team. We let down in the third set for a little bit, which is fairly typical for our youth. We were able to come back and that’s a positive thing for us.”

With the win, Auburn improves to 13-8 overall and 5-5 in the Southeastern Conference. The last time the Tigers picked up 13 overall wins and five in the conference was 2006 when the squad finished 13-18 and 5-15 in the SEC. Auburn defeated Alabama that season, 3-0, at the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

The Tigers were led by sophomore Kelly Fidero, who finished with 11 kills and hit .348 overall. Junior Morgan Johns and freshman Sarah Bullock each recorded nine kills, while sophomore setter Christina Solverson tallied a team-high nine digs and 19 assists.

“We’ve really worked hard up to this point and have grown up a lot this season,” Johns said. “We showed maturity tonight. The team knew we could win and we pulled it off in front of a fun crowd.”

Alabama (6-15, 4-7 SEC) was led by Alyssa Meuth and Brooks Webster.

Meuth recorded nine kills and two blocks, while Webster finished with seven kills, nine digs and four blocks.

Kills from Johns and Katherine Culwell helped Auburn jump out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Alabama rallied to tie the match at five apiece and the two squads battled to take a commanding lead. A kill from Fidero and a service ace from Culwell put the Tigers up 14-11 and a 4-point run gave Auburn the 19-13 advantage. Another kill from Fidero and one from Bullock sealed the 25-18 win for the Tigers.

Auburn grabbed a commanding 8-3 lead in Set 2, highlighted by pair of kills from Bullock and a service ace from Culwell. A 3-point Tiger run made the score 16-10 and a kill from Johns pushed Auburn up 17-12.

The Crimson Tide rallied late in the set, coming with two at 22-20, but kills from Johns and Davis put Auburn up 24-20 and the Tigers went on to take the set, 25-22.

The two squads reversed rolls at the start of the third set, seeing Alabama grab a quick 5-0 advantage. A kill from Johns and a service ace from Lauren Mellor brought the Tigers within 3 at 5-2, but the Crimson Tide held on to their lead. Down three at 14-11, the Tigers rallied on a 3-point run to tie the set at 14 apiece.

A kill from Johns tied the set at 22 all and a kill from Davis and two from Culwell pushed Auburn to the 25-22 victory.

The Tigers continue their homestand, facing Mississippi State at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. The match will be held in the Student Activities Center and admission is free.

Swimming & diving gets past LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Auburn swimming and diving team tallied five NCAA “B” cut times on Friday as the Tigers defeated SEC rival LSU at the LSU Natatorium.

The men topped LSU, 167-133, and the women came away with the 177-122 win.

“It was great getting the win with this being the first meet of the season,” Brett Hawke, head swimming and diving coach, said. “The team started out strong and battled through to the end. We still have a lot of work to do if we want to reach our goals at the end of the season.

Auburn’s women won nine individual events, led by seniors Melissa Marik and Ava Ohlgren and freshman Katie Gardocki with two wins each.

Marik won the 100 back with a B cut time of 54.48 and took the win in the 100 free with a time of 50.34. Ohlgren picked up wins in the 100 fly (54.92) and 200 IM (2:02.03) and recorded a B cut time of 2:00.02 with a second-place finish in the 200 fly.

Gardocki picked up the first victories of her collegiate career during the meet, finishing the day with wins in the 1000 free (10:01.17) and 500 free (4:53.71).

“Katie really stepped up and swam very well,” Hawke said. “She had a strong first meet for a freshman and that is very exciting.”

Also picking up individual wins were sophomores Micah Lawrence and Anna Aguero. Lawrence captured the 100 breast with a B cut time of 1:02.59.

Aguero swept the diving events with NCAA Zone standard scores on both springboards. She won the 1-meter with a score of 265.50 and the 3-meter with 282.31 points.

The quartet of Marik, Caitlin Geary, Becca Jones and Stephanie Horner closed out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay in a time of 3:25.57.

On the men’s side, juniors Kohlton Norys and Adam Klein picked up two wins each to lead the Tigers. Klein returned to his home state of Louisiana and swam a B cut time of 55.50 to take the 100 breast, while taking first in the 200 breast in 2:00.96. Norys captured victories in the 200 free (1:41.08) and 200 back (1:48.07).

Diver Kelly Marx picked up a pair of wins on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards, recording two NCAA Zone standard scores. He won the 1-meter with a score of 350.54 and the 3-meter with a 366.07.

The team of Tyler McGill, Gideon Louw, Norys and Pascal Wollach swam a B cut time in the 400 free relay to take first in 2:59.09.

Seniors McGill, Louw and Wollach each recorded individual wins during the meet. McGill clocked a 20.40 in the 50 free to pick up the win for Auburn. Louw took first in the 100 free (44.65) and Wollach won the 100 back (49.33).

Auburn returns to competition on Nov. 12, hosting in-state rival Alabama at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center. The meet is set for 5 p.m.

Women’s golf in 6th at NCAA Fall Preview
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Auburn junior Cydney Clanton carded five birdies Friday in the first round of the NCAA Fall Preview, finishing the day in a tie for third with a 2-under-par 72 as the third-ranked Tigers completed the first round in sixth place with an 11-over-par 299.

“We got off on a slow start to the day, but we had some good golf on the front nine to get us back into it,” said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. “This is a tough golf course, there were just a handful of scores under par today, so it was great to see Cydney Clanton come out here and get a really good round in on the first day.”

Starting the day on the No. 10 tee, Clanton picked up only one birdie on the back nine but collected four on the front, including a stretch of three between Nos. 3-6. The Concord, N.C., native finished the day in a tie for third with Wake Forest’s Cheyenne Woods, the niece of PGA TOUR golfer Tiger Woods.

Arizona State’s Carlota Ciganda and Alabama’s Camilla Lennarth finished the day in a tie for the lead at 4-under 68.

Following Clanton in the Auburn lineup was freshman Carlie Yadloczky in a tie for 25th with a 2-over-par 74. The Casselberry, Fla., native had a rough start to the day with a bogey on the first hole and a double-bogey on the third, but she played the remaining 15 holes at 1-under to finish the day at 2-over.

Senior Candace Schepperle, a Birmingham native, was third on the team with a 3-over-par 75, tying for 36th overall. Patricia Sanz followed with an 8-over 80 to tie for 68th while Haley Wilson rounded out the lineup with a 10-over 82, tying for 78th in the 90-player field.

Southern California finished the day with a 5-stroke lead, taking first place with an even-par 288. UCLA and top-ranked Arizona State followed in a tie for second with 5-over 293s. Duke finished the day in fourth with an 8-over 296 while Alabama finished in fifth with a 10-over 298.

The Tigers finished in sixth place with an 11-over 299 while Virginia (300), Denver (301), Michigan State (301) and Purdue (302) round out the top 10.

“We had some good things happen today, but we have a lot of work left to do,” said Evans. “Almost every team in this field is ranked in the top 25 and this is a tough golf course, so there is not a lot of room for error. We just need to come back tomorrow and take care of our business.”

The tournament will continue today with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Auburn is set to tee off from 8:15-8:51 a.m. off the No. 1 tee with Duke and Alabama.

Women’s tennis starts well at ITA Regional
The Auburn women’s tennis team opened up Day 1 of the 2009 ITA Southern Regional with three singles victories as well as a pair of doubles victories.

Play was affected due to rain in the Auburn area, as a majority of the matches on Day 1 were played indoors at Yarborough Tennis Center until the weather improved enough later in the day for play to move outside.

All-American Fani Chifchieva opened up singles play for the Tigers by defeating UAB’s Evelien Strijker in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

The Tigers’ second victory of the day came from Myrthe Molenveld as she downed Mississippi State’s Natalia Mayuk 6-4, 6-1.

Freshman Plamena Kurteva picked up Auburn’s final singles victory of day one as she defeated Soledad Podlipnik of Mississippi State, 6-3, 6-3.

Chifchieva picked up her second win of the day in doubles play, teaming up with Caroline Thornton to defeat the LSU tandem of Kaitlin Burns and Ebie Wilson, 8-5.

Molenveld also accounted for a pair of wins on the afternoon, as she and her partner Paulina Schippers defeated Louisiana-Lafayette’s Briggitt Marcovich and Julie Mazinova in a tie-break, 9-8 (7-5.)

Day 2 will commence at 8:30 a.m. with the main doubles draw, followed promptly by consolation and main draw singles. In all, two rounds of singles action and one round of doubles is on tap.