AUBURN – Senior Rebecca Howell made sure that her final regular season match at the Auburn Soccer Complex would be a special one, scoring both goals in Auburn's 2-0 victory over No. 19 Georgia on Sunday afternoon.
The victory clinches Auburn's ninth consecutive berth in the SEC Soccer Tournament. It was the Tigers' first win over a ranked team since 2007.
“This is the best soccer we have played all year, and that’s exactly what we need to do, peak at the end of the season," Auburn coach Karen Hoppa said.
Howell finished the match with four shots, all of them on frame, and had the first multi-goal game of her career, collecting her sixth and career-high seventh goals of the season.
“This is an amazing win for our team," Howell said. "Georgia is a ranked opponent and they are really good. We just really wanted to beat them today. The whole team played great."
Goalkeeper Amy Howard made seven saves to earn her fourth shutout of the season.
The win moved Auburn to 8-7-3 overall and 5-5-0 SEC. Georgia fell to 13-4-1 and 6-4.
VOLLEYBALL
Tigers shut out Mississippi State
The Auburn volleyball team improved to 14-8 and 6-5 in conference play with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-21) sweep over Mississippi State on Sunday at the Student Activities Center. The 14 total wins are the most Auburn has recorded this decade. The Tigers are off to their best start in SEC play since 1999.
Leading the way offensively for the Tigers were Sarah Bullock and Morgan Johns. Bullock finished with a match-high 12 kills, while Johns tallied 11 kills and closed the match with a .429 attack percentage. Setter Christina Solverson recorded her fifth double-double of the season, having 25 assists and 11 digs. Katherine Culwell had a match-best 13 digs, while Liz Crouch added 11 digs on the day.
Mississippi State fell to 5-18 and 1-11.
WOMEN'S GOLF
Clanton wins individual title in NCAA Fall Preview
Junior Cydney Clanton carded her third consecutive 2-under-par round to earn her second win of the season while helping third-ranked Auburn to post an even-par final round and tie for second place in the 2009 NCAA Fall Preview in Wilmington, N.C.
"This weekend has been great," said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. "This is a preview of the NCAA Championship, and I feel like we really executed well. Our team never felt like they were out of it, and on a golf course like this, you're not. You have to play with such a focus and they did that very well.
"We played solid golf and improved after every day. It came down to the
last hole to win and we barely fell short. We didn't meet our goal to
win, but I'm not going to take any sour notes away from this NCAA Fall
Preview."
As a team, the Tigers pulled together to post their best round of the
weekend at an even-par 288, giving the team an 18-over-par 882
tournament total and a tie for second-place.
MEN'S TENNIS
Tigers take singles, doubles titles
Tim Puetz came away with the singles title, while he and partner Alex Stamchev captured the doubles title on Sunday at the Wilson/ITA South Regional in New Orleans held on the campuses of Tulane and University of New Orleans.
“It was a great weekend for our program and I’m very proud of Tim and Alex,” Auburn coach Eric Shore said. “Tim got better and better as the tournament went on and played his best in the final match. He and Alex played great together and it’s great to see both of their hard work pay off.”
