ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Auburn University at Montgomery volleyball team swept its two matches Saturday on the final day of the Reddie-Tiger Invitational, outlasting Ouachita Baptist, 3-2, and rolling past Cameron, 3-0.
 
Kendall McCain and Kyla Ffrench combined for 50 kills on the day and the Warhawks collected 25 service aces in the two matches. Keren Santana finished the day with 43 digs, while McCain set a new school record with eight service aces against Ouachita Baptist. Junior Amber Bretwisch recorded double-figure digs in each contest and assisted on 76 points for AUM.

THE WARMUP (Match 1)
Score:  AUM 3, Ouachita Baptist 2 (22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-14, 15-12)
Records: AUM 1-2 | OBU 1-2
Series: AUM leads 2-1
Location: Arkadelphia, Ark. | Sturgis Physical Education Center
Get Social: Twitter & Instagram - @AUMWarhawksVB

HIGHLIGHTS

• Trailing 10-8, Ouachita Baptist used a 6-2 spurt to take the lead for good and set one of the contest, 25-22.
• AUM led by as many as five points, 13-8, early in the match, before the Tigers rallied to within one, 15-14. The Warhawks maintained an 18-17 advantage, before McCain slammed down a kill and Ouachita followed with attack errors on three consecutive points to extend the lead to 22-17. After a pair of OBU points, McCain finished off the set with a kill and a pair of service aces to tie the match at a set apiece.
• The Warhawks led throughout the majority of set three, including by an 18-14 advantage following a kill by Bretwisch. However, the Tigers answered with a 6-1 spurt and took a 20-19 lead to seize control of the set. After a kill by De Mango tied the score at 20-20, OBU closed the set with a 5-2 run to take the third set and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
• Three kills and three service aces by McCain led the Warhawks on an 11-2 run to open the fourth set. AUM led by no less than seven points for the remainder of the set.
• McCain added aces number seven and eight in the match early in set five, and combined with three OBU attack errors, AUM ran out to a 5-2 advantage. The Tigers closed the gap and even tied the score at 8-8, before the sides eventually reached a 13-12 AUM advantage. The Warhawks pulled to match point on a kill by Ffrench, before the 29th attack error of the match by Tigers sealed the AUM victory.

STATS OF THE MATCH

• McCain continued her stellar play to open the season with a match-high 19 kills, while adding 10 digs and the school-record eight aces.
• Santana finished with a match-high 28 digs.
• Junior Giulia Santuari just missed a double-double, finishing with 10 kills and nine digs.
• Sophomore Ylenia De Mango 10 kills, marking the second consecutive match she has finished in double figures.
• Ffrench finished the contest with six kills on eight swings, a pair of solo blocks and block assists and four digs.
• Bretwisch tallied 49 assists in the contest, while adding 10 digs, three kills and two blocks.
• Kayla Steinmeyer led four Tigers with double-digit kills with 13.
• Lexie Castillow paced OBU with 24 digs.

THE WARMUP (Match 2)
Score:  AUM 3, Cameron 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-17)
Records: AUM 2-2 | CU 1-2
Series: AUM leads 1-0
Location: Arkadelphia, Ark. | Duke Wells Center
Get Social: Twitter & Instagram - @AUMWarhawksVB
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• AUM led wire-to-wire and used a 7-0 run late in the set to take the opener, 25-19.
• Trailing 19-15 late in the second set, AUM closed the set with a 10-1 spurt to take a 2-0 advantage. Ffrench and McCain slammed a pair of kills and sophomore Reann Cato picked up a service ace to key the run.
• Cameron led the third set 9-7 early, but the Warhawks sealed the victory by closing the match on an 18-8 run. McCain closed the match by posting kills for three of the final four points of the contest for AUM.

STATS OF THE MATCH

• Ffrench finished the contest with 10 kills on 13 attacks, adding three block assists and a pair of aces.
• McCain tallied a match-high 15 kills in the victory.
• Santana tallied 15 digs to lead the team, while Bretwisch added 13 and a match-best 27 assists.
• Santuari posted six kills in the contest.
• Freshamn Gabriela Bieniek tallied a season-high four kills in her third collegiate match.
• Arianna Navarrete led Cameron with 10 kills and six digs.

WORDS FROM THE WARHAWKS
"I was pleased with how the team responded after yesterday and especially the way they played for each other after (Dariona) Dash went down," head coach Flavia Siqueira said. "Serving was certainly a key to our success today, but I think we are still taking too long to make adjustments early in matches. It seems like when we become more disciplined with our plan and decision making, we play like a different team. I thought Kyla played very well today and took advantage of the way the team's defended against her. Moving forward, I would like to see us continue to improve our blocking and defense. Those areas take time to establish consistency, but hopefully we can continue to make improvements this week."
 
UP NEXT
AUM will return to action on Friday, September 2, when It opens play at the USC Aiken Invitational in Aiken, S.C. The Warhawks will take on Carson-Newman (2 p.m.) and Mount Olive (7 p.m.) on the opening day of the tournament.
   
For the latest on AUM athletics, find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.​