AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team (6-8, 0-3 SEC) dropped a tightly-contested match to Alabama, 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20), Wednesday night in Auburn Arena.
"I like the response we had this week after a tough weekend," head coach Rick Nold said. "It was a hard-fought match tonight and there were a couple of plays that we needed to make that we weren't able to. That was the difference.
"After a month on the road, to come back and have this kind of support – it just picks the team up," Nold added on tonight's crowd. "We've had a full month of crowds against us. We're so thankful for the Auburn Family and can't wait to see them again on Sunday."
Sophomore Tatum Shipes led all student-athletes with 17 kills, setting a season high. Senior Enija Bidzane finished with 12 kills, while sophomore Val Green chipped in eight. Junior setter Morgan Kull had a career-best 43 assists in the contest.
Defensively, junior libero Payton White put together another 20-dig performance, having 20 on the night. Kull finished with 10 for the first double-double of her career. Shipes and senior Shaina White each had a hand on five of Auburn's seven blocks.
The Tigers return to Auburn Arena Sunday, hosting Tennessee in a 1:30 p.m. CT contest. Admission is free.
SET ONE
The Tigers took an early 7-6 lead to start the match and followed with a three-point push to go up 13-11. The Crimson Tide, however, capitalized on strong play at the net to take a 22-18 advantage late in the set and closed out the opening stanza with a 25-23 win.
SET TWO
Auburn came out on fire in the second and jumped ahead at 13-6 behind strong play from Kull and Shipes. Alabama regrouped and pushed an 8-1 run to take its first lead at 17-16. The Tigers utilized Tide errors to take a 22-18 lead, but UA came out of a timeout and concluded the set with another 25-23 victory.
SET THREE
Big swings from Shipes helped the Tigers take a 9-1 advantage at the start of the third. An ace from Katie Persons and a kill by Chesney McClellan made it 20-14 late in the set and back-to-back strikes from Green gave the Tigers a 23-16 lead. A S. White/Shipes block sealed the set win for Auburn, 25-18.
SET FOUR
Tide errors made the score 5-1 in favor of the Tigers and a kill from Kull pushed the home squad up 7-3. In a match full of runs, Alabama put together a five-point push halfway through the stanza for a 16-14 advantage and held its lead to the end, winning the match, 25-20.