BATON ROUGE, La. – Two Tigers recorded double-doubles, but their efforts were not enough as the Auburn volleyball team (6-16, 0-11 SEC) fell to LSU, 3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-19), Wednesday at Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Sophomore Tatum Shipes paced the way for the Auburn attack with a team-leading 13 kills. Shipes added 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior Morgan Kull recorded 29 assists and a career-high 12 digs for her second double-double of the year. Kull added four kills on five attacking attempts.
It's the fourth time this season that Auburn had two Tigers finish a match with a double-double.
Junior Chesney McClellan turned in a strong performance at the net with a team-leading five blocks, four of which came in the opening set. McClellan closed the night with six kills.
Along with Shipes and Kull's double-digit dig effort, sophomore Bella Rosenthall also finished in double figures with a team-leading 13 digs.
LSU (12-10, 6-6 SEC) was led by Taylor Bannister, who closed the night was a match-high 22 kills. Karli Rose recorded 21 assists for LSU. Defensively, Raigen Cianciulli led LSU with 17 digs.
Auburn is back in action on Sunday, welcoming #18 Kentucky to Auburn Arena at 1:30 p.m. CT.
SET ONE
Auburn took control early with four blocks and a 4-0 run in the opening stages to storm out to a 7-4 lead. The Fightin' Tigers fought back to tie the set up at 11-11, but McClellan helped Auburn back in front with a kill and a block, giving the Orange and Blue a three-point advantage at the media timeout. Auburn extended its lead to five, 18-3, but LSU battled from behind to lock the match up at 20. The two squads exchanged points late to tie the opening set back up at 23-all, but an attack error and LSU block secured the opening set for LSU, 25-23.
SET TWO
Auburn jumped out to a 2-0 lead and kept applying pressure into the media timeout with a 15-11 advantage. Auburn's hot attack built its lead up to six, but a late 7-0 run from LSU tied up the set at 22-all. LSU and Auburn both fought off set points to force extra points, but LSU edged out the win, 28-26.
SET THREE
The final set was a back-and-forth affair heading into the media timeout with LSU holding the slight advantage, 15-14. Auburn kept it a one-point set with back-to-back kills from Shipes, but LSU closed the match on a 5-0 run to take a 25-19 win.