JOHNSON, NE - In a battle of two 5-3 squads, it was the Auburn Bulldogs that ultimately were two points better than the Johnson-Brock Eagles in sets one and four as they pulled out the road victory in four sets Thursday night, as heard on B103.

Auburn started the match off hot as they scored the first four points, but the Eagles were able to even the set up later in the set. From that point on, set one went back and forth until the Bulldogs were able to capitalize on a hitting error from Johnson-Brock and take the first set 25-23. 

In set two, it was all Auburn as sophomore Emery Taylor went on a long service run and added several kills at the net. The Bulldogs took set two 25-9. 

In set four, Johnson-Brock finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about. In front of members of the 2015 Volleyball State Championship squad that was honored prior to the game, the Eagles excelled defensively and sophomore Kasie Knippelmeyer added kill after kill down the stretch. She finished with a team-high 15 kills on the night. Johnson Brock took set three 25-17. 

Set four was another back and forth set. Auburn started the set out fast and squashed some of the momentum that the Eagles had gained from the previous set. But Johnson-Brock relied on their crowd as well as their defense to get back into the set. Down the stretch, Auburn continued to turn to Taylor who consistently hammered home kills as she finished with double digit kills. Once again, Auburn made enough plays down the stretch and limited their hitting errors as they took set four 25-23 and the match 3-1. 

Auburn improved to 6-3 on the season and won their sixth match in a row while Johnson Brock fell to 5-4. The Bulldogs will be back in action next Tuesday at Ashland-Greenwood while the Eagles next regular season match is scheduled for September 25 at Freeman.