Atlanta soundly defeated Austin 3-1 to win their season opener Thursday night in front of a packed OTE Arena.
Call it retribution. Atlanta fell in the fifth set 15-11 to Austin on the road. Atlanta’s Tessa Grubbs had a night of nights racking up 26 total points across the four sets. Fourteen of her points were scored when Atlanta was serving. Grubbs leads the league in with 51 points.
“Tonight it was all about being aggressive when we had the chance, playing smart but never safe,” said Grubbs. “I didn’t want to take any aggression off…when you take aggression off, that’s when things go a little left”.
A different player stepped up every time Atlanta needed a boost. Magdalena Jehlarova and McKenzie Adams each scored 11 points when Atlanta was serving. Adams held down the outside and Jehlarova made a living in the middle.
Atlanta took control of the first set after tying the score at 15-15. Tia Jimerson made her presence felt closing out the first set with her only block for a score of the match.
All of the momentum Atlanta generated to close out the first set, fed them in the second. Austin head coach Erik Sullivan moved his players around in almost every match including going deep into the bench.
“I’m not real happy with the level that we played at for periods of time, but I’m real happy with the fact that we were in it towards the end and that we were continuing to fight,” said Sullivan.
Madisen Skinner, who leads the league in kills with 44, didn’t have the same level of success as she did in the first meeting. The 2025 Finals MVP’s stats were down in every category. As she struggled, Asjia O’Neal did her best to pick up the missing points.
The Texas native scored 12 of her team high 14 points while Austin was on serve. O’Neal and Logan Eggleston were the only Austin players with double digit points on the night.
Austin broke through late in the third set taking control of the set after going up 21-20. Magdalena Jurzcyk and Juliann Faucette who had only played sparingly made scoring plays down the stretch to close out Atlanta.
Neither team gave an inch during the first 20-plus minutes of the fourth set. Highlighted by long rallies that could have easily gone either team’s way, Atlanta prevailed in the final set 25-23 to even the series at 1-1.