Sept. 30, 2016
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STARKVILLE, Miss. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team opened its SEC road weekend with a 3-1 (22-25, 29-27, 25-20, 26-24) loss to Mississippi State Friday night in the Newell-Grissom Building.
The Auburn backrow put together a solid effort as junior Jesse Earl set a season-best with 29 digs. Classmates Kelly Stewart and Tate Pember added 11 digs for the Tigers. Pember also chipped in a career-best three service aces.
Offensively, freshman Gwyn Jones led Auburn (7-9, 1-2 SEC) and tied a career high with 14 kills. Senior Breanna Barksdale added 13 kills and sophomore Brenna McIlroy finished with 11.
Mississippi State (10-7, 2-1 SEC) had a trio of attackers in double digits. Emily Hill had 24 kills, while Evie Grace Singleton finished with 18 and Jelena Vujcin had 11. Setter Blossom Sato had 45 assists and 16 digs and libero Cheyenne Spell added 16 digs.
Tied early in the first set, a kill from Barksdale sparked an Auburn run to put the Tigers ahead 7-4. Auburn capitalized on MSU errors halfway through the set to push an 18-14 advantage before the Bulldogs battled back to come within a point at 19-18. Kills by Courtney Crable & Macy Reece made it 23-20 and McIlroy finished the set with a pair of kills, 25-22.
The Bulldogs pulled ahead early in set 2 to take a 4-2 lead and then used a long run to go up 14-10. Auburn came out of a timeout and rattled off three points, while back-to-back aces and a kill from McIlroy put the Tigers up 17-15. Locked at 19, three kills from Jones lifted Auburn to a 22-20 advantage and one by Barksdale made it 23-21. The home squad wouldn't quit, however, and came back to earn set point at 24-23. Auburn held off four MSU set points, but the Bulldogs eventually took the set, 29-27.
Set three was a back-and-forth affair with neither team taking a substantial lead at the start. Locked at 16, kills from McIlroy and Jones put the Tigers up 18-16 and another ace from Pember lifted Auburn to a 20-17 advantage. The Bulldogs regrouped after a timeout and ended up closing out the set on an eight-point run to win, 25-20.
Auburn took a 6-3 advantage to start the fourth and a kill by Barksdale made it 7-4. MSU pressed a run to tie it up at 11 and pushed again for a 17-14 lead, forcing an Auburn timeout. The Tigers regrouped and locked it up at 17 before a back-to-back kills from Jones put Auburn up 21-20. The Bulldogs used a run to take match point, 24-21, but Auburn capitalized on tough serving from Earl to make it 24-all. MSU, however, held on and took the match, 26-24.
The Tigers return to action Sunday with a 12:30 p.m. CT match at Georgia. Auburn and the Bulldogs will face off on SEC Network+ in the Ramsey Center.