Nov. 27, 2015
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LEXINGTON, Ky. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team took nationally-ranked Kentucky down to the wire in the regular season finale, but ultimately fell to the No.24 Wildcats in a heartbreaking 3-2 (21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 15-13) match Friday night. The Tigers closed out 2015 at 18-12 overall and 10-8 in SEC play to finish sixth in the league.
Auburn's defense had a solid night, tying a season-best with 14.0 blocks and adding 81 digs. Junior Breanna Barksdale tied a season-high with seven blocks, while sophomore Alexa Filley set a career-best with six. Junior Stephanie Campbell chipped in four blocks and freshman Brenna McIlroy totaled three.
Sophomore Jesse Earl and Kelly Stewart had 22 digs apiece for the Tigers. Earl's total pushed her to 516 on the year to set a new Auburn single season digs record. Senior Alyssa Ivey finished with 12 digs on the night.
McIlroy led Auburn offensively with 15 kills and added 11 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Junior Emily Klitzke totaled 11 kills, while Campbell and sophomore Courtney Crable had eight each. Filley finished with 42 assists for the Tigers.
Kentucky (21-9, 14-4) was led by Darien Mack and Kaz Brown, having 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Libero Ashley Dusek had 32 digs and Brown led all student-athletes with 11 blocks.
The Tigers took an early 5-3 lead to open the first set and kills from Klitzke and McIlroy made it 7-4 Auburn. The Wildcats responded with a run to go ahead at 13-8 before the Tigers battled back with a seven-point rally to go up 15-13. Another Tiger run made it 20-15 and Auburn closed out the set with a 25-21 win.
Set two had the teams exchange points to start the set, having seven ties. At 10-10, the Wildcats pushed ahead to a 16-10 lead and stalled a Auburn rally to hold a 20-14 advantage. Kentucky went on to win the set, 25-17.
Auburn came out of intermission with a 10-7 lead in set three. A kill from Crable triggered a 4-1 Tiger run to make it 17-11 and a pair of McIlroy kills gave Auburn a 20-14 advantage. The Tigers reached set point on a Campbell kill and Crable closed out with a kill to give Auburn a 25-21 win.
Kentucky opened the fourth with a 7-1 lead and went ahead at 12-4 to force a Tiger timeout. The Wildcats found themselves up 22-8 before Auburn pushed a five-point run to make it 22-13. The home squad, however, went on to force a fifth set with a 25-14 victory.
Down 5-4 in the fifth, a kill from Crable sent the Tigers on a three-point run for a 7-5 lead. A service ace from Barksdale made it 9-6, but the Wildcats came back to tie it up at at 10 apiece. Kentucky went ahead at 11-10 and held on for a 15-13 win.
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