Oct. 2, 2013
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AUBURN, Ala. - A record crowd of 1,810 fans filled the lower bowl of Auburn Arena on Wednesday night but saw the Tiger volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision (25-17, 15-25, 14-25, 15-25) to Alabama.
The Tigers (9-5, 0-2 SEC) have dropped four-straight matches and could not keep up the momentum after a strong performance in the first set. Meanwhile, Alabama (13-3, 1-1 SEC) made adjustments after dropping set one and dominated the rest of the way.
"I'm disappointed with how we responded when they started putting pressure on us," Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. "We came out with good energy (in the first set), but we've talked about how to respond to adversity, and we weren't able to respond well tonight. That's something we've got to get an understanding of how much that affects us."
The crowd shattered the previous Auburn volleyball record, set in 2009 when the Student Activities Center burst at the seams with 1,215 fans in the building. In Wednesday's match, the crowd filled the lower bleacher seating area of Auburn Arena and forced event staff to open seating in the middle "orange" sections.
"A crowd like that is something that helps our team on most nights," Nold said. "It didn't get us the win tonight, but it's something we appreciate and know that down the road they're going to be a big help to us."
Senior Sarah Wroblicky led a valiant defensive effort with 20 digs, Auburn's highest individual total in a four-set match this year. Katherine Culwell added nine digs to go along with a team-high 10 kills. Stephanie Campbell added six kills while Kia Bright and Camila Jersonsky had five apiece.
Culwell also posted a team-high three blocks - all solo stuffs - to move into the all-time Auburn top-10 in career solo blocks. She now has 50 solo blocks in her career, which ties her with Bridgette Sims (1989-91) for ninth in Auburn history.
Redshirt freshman Krystal Rivers led Alabama with 18 kills on .484 hitting to go along with seven blocks, and Brittany Thomas added 15 kills while Mattie Weldy turned in 10 off the bench. Setter Sierra Wilson recorded 47 assists for the Tide.
Alabama controlled every statistical category in the match, hitting .297 while holding Auburn to a season-low hitting percentage (.041) for the second-straight outing. The Tide also had more digs (51-49) and kills (54-35) and posted 12 blocks to Auburn's five.
It will be a quick turnaround for Auburn as the Tigers hit the road this weekend for a pair of matches in the midwestern portion of the SEC. Auburn plays at Missouri for the first time at 6:30 p.m. Friday before heading to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Razorbacks on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.