Sept. 29, 2006
AUBURN, Ala. -
The Auburn University volleyball team fell to No. 17 Tennessee, 3-1 (30-21, 28-30, 30-28, 30-21) on Friday, at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum in Auburn. The loss drops the Tigers to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in the SEC, while the Lady Vols move to 13-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
Sophomore Jessica Glover notched her third 20-20 game of the year as she totaled 20 kills and 20 digs on the night. Junior Whitney Jacob chipped-in 14 kills and 10 digs, while junior Jelena Sekulic had nine kills and 12 digs.
"It was a battle of who managed the ball better tonight," head coach Laura Farina said. "We saw again what happens when our top two hitters are off, and they will have to learn how to battle through that."
In game one, the Lady Vols had a 4-1 lead, but the Tigers battled back to take an 8-6 lead of their own. UT then rattled off six-straight points and never relinquished the lead. AU got to as close as one on a couple occasions, but Tennessee answered and won the game, 30-21.
The Tigers once again found themselves in an early hole, 8-3, but fought back with seven-straight points to take the lead in game two. After dropping the next point, Auburn went on a 7-1 run to take command of the game. Tennessee did not give in, and tied the game at 24 and then again at 28. The Tigers reeled off two points on back-to-back kills by Glover, and AU took game two, 30-28.
After a 4-4 tie in game three, Auburn took the lead and was ahead by as many as six. UT finally tied the game at 24, and took its first lead at 27-26. The Lady Vols closed out the stanza with a kill by Kylie Marshall to win, 30-28.
Tennessee took control of game four early, and never let go. UT's lead was cut to 11-9, but AU would never get any closer, and dropped game four, 30-21.
The Tigers will remain home for a match against Kentucky at Beard-Eaves on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. It will be Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and fans will have a chance to donate for each Auburn dig.