AUBURN, Ala. – A career night for senior outside hitter Lauren Dorrell highlighted a gritty Auburn volleyball performance against No. 4 Florida inside Auburn Arena Thursday night.
Dorrell paced the Tiger (0-2, 0-2 SEC) offense as Auburn fought the Gators (2-0, 2-0 SEC) to the wire in the final two sets. Florida held on for a 3-0 (14-25, 19-25, 21-25) victory to sweep the series.
"We hit for a higher efficiency, and we also scored more points than we did yesterday," said head coach Brent Crouch. "That's what matters in the end – how many points you're scoring, and if you're able to keep getting better. We were better on the defensive side for sure. We hit for a higher efficiency, so that's offensive as well."
Dorrell hammered home six kills, five of which came in the second set alone, to lead a balanced Auburn attack. Dorrell matched her career high in blocks with two stuffs and chipped in a career-high six digs.
Senior middle blocker Chesney McClellan was efficient with her swings, landing four kills on eight attempts. Junior outside hitters Val Green and Tatum Shipes each racked up five kills. As a team Auburn raised its hitting percentage by 62 points from Wednesday night.
Junior Bella Rosenthall played a major role in the offensive attack, taking over as setter midway through the match. She closed the night with a career-high 10 assists, while adding a kill and her first career block.
At the service line, Shipes landed a season-high two aces.
"We were better in a bunch of areas," said head coach Brent Crouch. "Tonight, we were better defensively. We certainly touched a lot more balls blocking and got more stuffs. We practiced that before the match and improved on the defensive side."
Defensively, the Tigers out-blocked Florida 7.0 to 5.0. Chesney led the Tigers with four blocks while her counterpart at middle, Jaeden Brown, chipped in three.
Rosenthall rounded out the defense with eight digs while Shipes close behind with seven.
After a slow start, Auburn and Florida traded points in the early stages of set two with the Gators hanging on to a 14-15 lead at the media timeout. Florida stretched out a four-point lead before Dorrell found her groove with a couple quick kills. The late spark fell short as Florida claimed the set 19-25.
Florida jumped out early in set three, 1-4, forcing an Auburn timeout. The Tigers dug deep and pulled within one after Rosenthall dumped a quick kill over the net. The Gators flexed their offense and seemed poised for an easy win with a 15-21 lead, before Auburn surged late.
A few timely blocks by the Tigers middles and kills from Shipes and Green cut the lead to 23-19. McClellan fought off match point late with a monster swing in the final moments, but a kill from Florida's Paige Hammons won the final set, 25-21.
UP NEXT
Auburn begins its slate of four consecutive road contests with back-to-back contests against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Auburn will take on the Gamecocks Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. Thursday's series finale is set for a 3:30 p.m. CT first serve on SEC Network +.
Dorrell highlights Auburn’s gritty performance against No. 4 Florida
