AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn volleyball (6-19, 0-14 SEC) fell in straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-14) to LSU Sunday at Auburn Arena.
Freshman Lily Thomason led the Tigers with 11 total kills. She was the only Tiger to finish the night in double-figures. Senior Shaina White turned in a strong performance with a season-high .538 attacking percentage. She totaled seven kills on 13 attempts and led Auburn at the net with two blocks.
Defensively, sophomore Bella Rosenthall and junior Morgan Kull totaled 10 digs each. Kull added 29 assists for her third double-double of the season. It was her second double-double against LSU in 2019.
LSU (14-11, 8-7 SEC) was led by Taylor Bannister, who recorded a match-high 26 kills and added 10 digs for a double-double performance. Samarah Hill and Raigen Cianciulli led LSU with 12 digs each. Karli Rose tallied 37 assists.
Auburn continues its homestand on Wednesday, hosting No. 11 Florida inside Auburn Arena at 8 p.m. CT. The match will be aired on the SEC Network.
SET ONE
LSU jumped out early with a 6-1 start, but White sparked the Auburn offense with back-to-back kills and a solo block. After another run by Auburn, the two squads traded points with LSU holding the slight advantage, 15-11, at the media timeout. Auburn continued to battle throughout the latter stages of the set and fought off back-to-back set points with help of a Chesney McClellan kill, but LSU held on for a 25-21 set victory.
SET TWO
Set two featured another 4-1 start for LSU, but Auburn clawed back and took advantage of an LSU attacking error to lock the match up at 13-all. Back-to-back kills from LSU gave the visiting Tigers the two-point advantage at the media break. LSU put some distance late, but a 3-0 run by Auburn highlighted by kills from Tatum Shipes and Thomason locked the set back up once more at 19-all. LSU responded with a 6-0 run to close the match.
SET THREE
LSU jumped out to a 7-1 lead and used that momentum to force two early Auburn timeouts. The early lead was too much for Auburn to overcome as LSU recorded a 25-14 victory to win the set.