Nov. 15, 2017
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BATON ROUGE, La. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team (14-10, 7-8) fell to LSU, 3-1 (25-15, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20) Wednesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
"Credit LSU for being aggressive tonight," head coach Rick Nold said. "We came out flat to start and that allowed them to take and hold on to momentum."
Senior libero Jesse Earl led the Tiger defense with a match-high 33 digs on the night. It was the third time this season the Indianapolis, Ind., product reached 30 digs or more. In addition, she eclipsed the 1,000-dig mark in SEC-only matches in her career.
Offensively, sophomore Shaina White had a team-best 10 kills and classmate Gwyn Jones chipped in nine. Senior Courtney Crable followed with seven kills in the match.
Senior setter Alexa Filley notched her 17th double-double of the season with 33 assists and 11 digs, while junior Brenna McIlroy finished with 13 digs for the Tigers.
LSU (19-7, 10-5) had a pair student-athletes in double-digits offensively. Taylor Bannister led the way with 15 kills, while Toni Rodriguez finished with 11. Libero Raigen Cianciulli had 29 digs, and Jacqui Armer had nine blocks.
The home squad came out hot and grabbed a quick 9-5 lead in the first. A handful of two-point pushes lifted LSU to an 18-10 advantage and the team took the set, 25-15.
Another fast start for the home Tigers made it 10-1. A kill from S. White sent AU on a run to cut the LSU lead at 16-9, but LSU held on to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 win.
The teams went back-and-forth to start the third until a trio of LSU errors pushed Auburn to a 12-9 lead. Kills from Macy Reece and McIlroy followed by a Karis Beasley ace made it 17-13 and a Crable kill lifted the visiting Tigers to a 20-14 advantage. A big block from Jones/Reece gave AU the set, 25-20.
LSU regrouped and jumped ahead 8-4 in the fourth. The team pushed to a 16-10 lead and then reached 20 first at 20-14. LSU went on to take the match with a 25-20 win.
Auburn closes out its home schedule Sunday, Nov. 19, in Auburn Arena, hosting Mississippi State in a 1:30 p.m. CT match. The contest will serve as the team's Senior Day and the squad will recognize its four senior leaders prior to the match - Courtney Crable, Jesse Earl, Alexa Filley, Macy Reece.