AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team dropped a five-set match (21-25, 25-17, 25-22, 13-25, 11-15) to open the season against Tennessee State Friday afternoon in Auburn Arena.
Junior Chesney McClellan led the squad with a career-high 14 kills, while senior Enija Bidzane chipped in 13 and sophomore Tatum Shipes finished with 12. Sophomore setter Marissa Hines totaled 27 assists and junior Morgan Kull added in 18 for the Auburn offense.
The Tiger blockers put together a solid performance, having nine as a squad. McClellan led the way for AU with five stuffs, while senior Shaina White and Shipes got their hands on three apiece.
Defensively, junior libero Payton White reached a career-high 23 digs to lead all student-athletes in the match. Sophomore Bella Rosenthall added 10 for her 16th career double-digit dig performance.
Auburn (0-1) also excelled from the service line, totaling 13 aces, the most in a match since September 2016. Molly Pember led the way with a career-best four, while Rosenthall had three and P. White had two.
Tennessee State (1-0) was led by Khalia Jordan with 11 kills. Setter Teuila Lolotai finished with a double-double totaling 17 assists and 12 digs.
Auburn continues play in the War Eagle Invitational with a showdown against New Mexico. The Tigers and Aggies will face off at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
SET ONE
The Tigers opened the match on a 4-0 run before Tennessee State answered back with a 4-1 run of its own. The two teams exchanged points to be knotted up at 14 apiece. Tennessee State went on an 8-2 run before a kill from Shipes brought Auburn within five. TSU went on to take the set, 25-21.
SET TWO
The second set saw the score tied nine times as the two teams went back-and-forth to once again be tied up late in the set. After a service error from TSU, Pember had back-to-back aces forcing a visitor timeout. The Tigers closed the set on a 7-0 run and tied the match up at one set apiece, 25-17.
SET THREE
After falling behind early, TSU scored six-straight points to take a 9-7 lead. Auburn and Tennessee State once again were tied at 14 all. The teams exchanged three-point runs to get to 21-all. The Lady Tigers capitalized on AU errors taking the set, 25-22.
SET FOUR
Leading 8-7, Auburn pushed an 8-2 run highlighted by aces from Pember and S. White for a 16-9 advantage. Big swings from McClellan and Shipes pushed Auburn to a 24-15 lead and a service error by TSU gave the home Tigers the set.
SET FIVE
The fifth set was a battle between the two teams, seeing nine ties and three lead changes. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead to start, but the visiting team responded with a run and took an 8-7 led into the media timeout. McClellan picked up her final kill of the day to make it 9-9 before the visiting Tigers once again pushed ahead at 12-10. Tennessee State went on to take the match, 15-13.