AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team battled Big Ten power Michigan in a tightly-contested match, falling to the Wolverines in three sets (22-25, 20-25, 22-25) Saturday night in Auburn Arena. The Tigers moved to 1-1 on the early season.
"Michigan is a tough team to defend and we talked about not giving them the easy opportunities," head coach Rick Nold said. "This young team is going to learn from it and bring it into the next week."
Senior Brenna McIlroy led the Tigers with 12 kills and added two service aces for 14 points on the night. Freshman Tatum Shipes, sophomore Anna Stevenson and junior Gwyn Jones each chipped in five kills. Freshman Mica Allison dished out 29 assists.
Freshman Bella Rosenthall chipped in a season-best 19 digs for the Tigers, while sophomore Payton White added a season-high 11. Allison and Stevenson each had two blocks for the Tigers.
Stevenson and McIlroy were placed on the all-tournament team for their efforts.
Michigan (2-0) had two with double-digit kills in Carly Skjodt (14) and Sydney Wetterstrom (11). Setter MacKenzi Welsh had 41 assists and 10 digs, while Jenna Lerg finished with a match-high 24 digs.
Auburn found itself down early in set one, 11-6, but a pair of Michigan errors followed by a kill from Shipes and back-to-back aces by McIlroy brought the Tigers ahead at 12-11. The squads exchanged points throughout the rest of the set until a three-point push from Michigan made it 23-21. The Wolverines went on to capture the set, 25-22.
A kill from McIlroy and a pair of UM errors made it 4-1 Auburn to start the second. Michigan responded with a run to lock it at 5-all, but two-straight kills from McIlroy sent the Tigers on a push for an 11-7 advantage. Once again, the Wolverines regrouped and went ahead 13-12 with the help of a successful coach challenge. Another push from UM made it 18-15 and the visitors held for a 25-20 win.
The Wolverines held momentum in the third to go up 6-2. The Tigers rebounded a pair of long rallies to go ahead 14-11, forcing a Michigan timeout. UM responded to tie the set at 15-15 and the teams once again went back and forth with points to the end of the set. A kill from freshman Taylor Rowland brought the Tigers within one at 23-22, but the Wolverines held for a 25-22 victory.
Auburn hits the road for the first time for the Butler Invitational, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, in Indianapolis. The Tigers face host Butler Friday night before taking on Illinois State and Eastern Illinois Saturday.
Tigers Drop Tight Match to Michigan Saturday Night
