AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn volleyball (6-21, 0-16 SEC) rounded out its home slate as the Tigers fell to South Carolina, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19), Sunday at Auburn Arena.
Auburn celebrated its four graduating Tigers of Shaina White, Enija Bidzane, Morgan Kull and Shea McNamara. White closed her final match at Auburn Area with four kills, three digs and a block. Kull led the team with 34 assists and added one kill and six digs.
For the fourth straight match, freshman Lily Thomas led the Tigers with 12 kills. It was her third consecutive match with double-digit kills. Sophomore Tatum Shipes also finished in double figures with 11. Shipes added six digs and an assist.
Defensively, Auburn finished with four blocks with junior Chesney McClellan leading the way with three. McClellan also added three kills. Sophomore Bella Rosenthall and junior Payton White led the Tigers with 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
South Carolina (18-10, 10-6 SEC) was led by Mikayla Shields, who recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Courtney Koehler tallied 26 assists. Defensively, Mikayla Robinson totaled nine blocks at the net and Addison Bryant paced the way with 13 digs.
Auburn hits the road Wednesday for the first of its two final contests of the regular season. The Tigers face Tennessee at 4 p.m. CT in Knoxville, Tenn. The match will be streamed on the SEC Network +.
SET ONE
The two squads exchanged points in the early stages of the opening set. A big kill from Shaina White cut USC's lead to one, 11-10, but the Gamecocks used a 5-1 run to push their lead to four points heading into the media timeout. South Carolina pulled away, but the Tigers sliced into the lead with a 3-0 run, capped off by a block from Chesney McClellan and Lauren Dorrell, in the latter stages of the set. A Gamecock kill and solo block silenced the comeback, securing a 25-17 victory for USC.
SET TWO
The Gamecocks used two early runs to take an 8-4 lead in the second set, but the Tigers continued to battle back from behind. A solo block from McClellan and a Bella Rosenthall ace cut USC's lead to 12-10 and forced the Gamecocks to call a timeout. The two squads went back-and-forth following the timeout, but a set error and USC block pushed the lead to 19-15 Gamecocks and forced an Auburn timeout. A 3-0 run by USC provided separation as the Gamecocks claimed the set 25-20.
SET THREE
Hitting a blistering .444 early in the third set, the Tigers mounted a three-point lead, 7-4, and forced an early USC timeout. Auburn paced the way until a 3-0 run by USC locked the set up at 12-all. The two squads exchanged points, but a 6-0 USC run put the set away for a 25-18 win.