Oct. 16, 2015
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AUBURN, Ala. - A fight to the final points of the fifth set saw the Auburn volleyball team come up just short against 20th-ranked Kentucky on Friday night at Auburn Arena as the Tigers fell 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 12-15).
The Tigers (11-7, 3-3 SEC), facing their second-straight top-25 opponent, kept the pressure on the SEC-leading Wildcats (13-5, 6-0) all night but were unable to close the deal as Kentucky shored up its defense late in the match.
"We knew this was going to be a battle," Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. "I thought Kentucky stepped up their defense after game two and put a lot of pressure on us. I'm happy to see the fight that we continue to show. I think we're confident that if we continue to play with that menality that we will break through soon."
Junior Emily Klitzke led the Auburn attack with a career-high 19 kills on 48 attempts (also a career-high), hitting .229 for the night. The Tigers had three players in double-digit kills as sophomore Courtney Crable had 13 and junior Breanna Barksdale put down 12 while hitting a team-best .320.
Sophomore setter Alexa Filley had another big night with 45 assists, 17 digs, eight kills and four blocks. It marked her 10th double-double of the season. Junior Stephanie Campbell was strong in the middle with five kills, five blocks and five digs, and sophomore libero Jesse Earl led the Tiger defensive effort with 23 digs.
Kentucky out-hit the Tigers .197 to .144, but Auburn had three more kills than did the Wildcats (65-62). Led by 40 digs from libero Ashley Dusek, Kentucky controlled the defensive side of the net with 93 digs to Auburn's 84. The Wildcats also showed why they are the top blocking team in the SEC as they had 17 blocks on the night, led by 10 from Emily Franklin.
All five sets were tight affairs as the match featured 25 ties and nine lead changes throughout. With the first set tied for the ninth time at 22-all, Klitzke put down three straight kills to end the set with a 25-22 Auburn win. Kentucky pushed back in the second set, pulling away from a 19-19 tie to take a four-point lead. Auburn cut the deficit to one point at 23-22, but the Wildcats earned the final two points to tie the match at a game apiece.
Kentucky led set three 17-15 before Auburn went on a 5-1 run, fueled by a pair of Barksdale kills, to take a 20-18 lead. Kentucky cut it to one at 23-22, but two Crable kills overcame the Cats fighting off a set point attempt to give Auburn a 2-1 lead with a 25-23 win. The Tigers fell behind by six points early in set four, but fought back to make it a one-point game at 15-14. Auburn got as close as two points late in the set at 23-21 after a Campbell and Brenna McIlroy block, but Kentucky got the final two points to send it to a fifth set.
In the fifth, the lead changed hands three times and was tied eight times in the race to 15 points. Auburn led 10-9 after a Kentucky service error, but UK got two straight to force an Auburn timeout at 11-10. Barksdale's shot tied it back up at 11, but UK scored the next two. Another Kentucky service error got the Tigers back within one at 13-12, but a block and a kill from UK's Anni Thomasson ended the Tigers' upset bid.
It was the sixth five-setter for Auburn this season; the Tigers fell to 3-3 in those matches. It was also just the second loss for Auburn this season when holding its opponent under a .200 hitting percentage.
The Tigers will be back in Auburn Arena on Wednesday night, Oct. 21, to face the Georgia Bulldogs in a nationally-televised ESPNU match. First serve is set for 8 p.m., and admission is free.
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