AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team battled a strong Georgia team Sunday afternoon, falling in four sets (27-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-17) in Auburn Arena.
"Our defense continues to get better and better each week and I'm really encouraged by how we are consistently improving," head coach Rick Nold said. "Georgia is really playing well right now and I'm proud of how we battled today."
The loss moved the Tigers to 6-12 overall and 0-7 in Southeastern Conference play.
Freshman Lily Thomason had a solid day for the Tigers, totaling a career-best 14 kills for the squad. Sophomore Tatum Shipes put together another double-double, having 12 kills and 14 digs. Junior Jaeden Brown picked up a career-high seven kills and classmate Chesney McClellan chipped in five. Setter Morgan Kull finished with 33 assists.
The Tiger blockers had another solid match, finishing with 11 blocks overall. It marked the second-straight contest the squad totaled double-digit stuffs. Brown led the team with four, while Shipes finished with three solo blocks. McClellan, Kull and senior Shaina White each had a hand on three.
Auburn's backrow was led by sophomore libero Bella Rosenthall, notching a career-best 26 digs in the match. Along with Shipes' 14, sophomore Katie Persons added a season-best six digs.
Georgia (14-4, 6-1) was led by Rachel Ritchie with 17 kills, while Kayla Rivera had 13. Setter Meghan Donovan finished with 47 assists and libero Kendall Glover had 22 digs.
Auburn heads back on the road, traveling to Mississippi State and Arkansas to close out October. The Tigers and the Bulldogs will go head-to-head at 8 p.m. CT in Starkville, Oct. 25. The match will be televised on SEC Network. Auburn closes out the month at Arkansas, Oct. 27, at 1 p.m. CT.
SET ONE
Kills from Shipes, Thomason and Brown tied the first at 6-all before a 6-2 Bulldog push gave the visitors a 12-8 advantage. Another small run for UGA forced an Auburn timeout at 17-12. The Tigers regrouped and cut the Bulldog lead at 18-17. A kill from McClellan and a McClellan/Kull block locked the set at 21-all and the teams exchanged points before the Bulldogs faced set point at 24-23. After more back-and-forth play, the visitors held on for a 27-25 victory.
SET TWO
Georgia capitalized on momentum to start the second and jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead. Three kills from Thomason late in the set helped the Tigers cut the Bulldog advantage at 17-13, but UGA closed out set two with a 25-15 win.
SET THREE
Auburn took a quick lead to start the match before the Bulldogs put together a 7-1 rally to go up 15-10. Auburn responded with big blocks from Shipes and a service ace by Persons to tie it up at 15-all and three-straight UGA attack errors lifted the Tigers to a 19-17 lead. A kill from Brown made it set point, 24-23, and the Tigers held on to force the fourth with a 26-24 victory.
SET FOUR
The Bulldogs regrouped and jumped ahead 6-3 to start set four. A handful of small runs pushed UGA to a 13-6 advantage. The Tigers started to chip away at the Bulldog lead, coming within three at 17-14, but Georgia rattled off four-straight points to earn match point, 24-16, and closed out the day with a 25-17 win.