COLUMBIA, S.C. – A record-setting blocking performance at the net highlighted a back-and-forth match that saw Auburn volleyball (0-4, 0-4) total 17.0 team blocks in a 3-1 loss to South Carolina (3-1, 3-1 SEC) inside the Carolina Volleyball Center Thursday afternoon.
After dropping the opening set 22-25, Auburn bounced back for a 25-21 victory to even the match. The Gamecocks would hold on to take two tightly contested sets by 20-25 and 23-25 finals.
Auburn's 17 blocks set the program's record for a four-set match, besting the previous mark of 14 total blocks set against Tennessee on Nov. 9, 2014. It also tied for the second-most blocks in a single match in Auburn history and was the most blocks in a single match since the Tigers totaled 17 in a five-set contest against Georgia Southern on Sept. 12, 2009.
Senior middle blocker Jaeden Brown led the way with a career-high nine blocks to tie for the 13th most blocks in a single-match in program history. Brown added three kills offensively. Her counterpart at middle blocker, Chesney McClellan, tied her career high with seven blocks. The senior also added a season-high nine kills.
It was senior Lauren Dorrell that paced Auburn's offense with a career-high 12 kills on a blistering .522 hitting percentage. Dorrell was errorless in her 23 attacking attempts and added four blocks and a pair of digs. Junior Tatum Shipes picked up her seventh career double-double – the first for Auburn this season - with 11 kills and 10 digs. She also was crucial in Auburn's success at the net with six blocks.
Shipes was one of four Tigers with double-digit digs Thursday afternoon. Junior Bella Rosenthall led the defense with a season-high 16. Senior Payton White totaled 12 digs as Auburn's libero and junior Val Green added 10.
Freshman Jackie Barrett dished out a career-high 35 assists to carry Auburn to a .162 team hitting percentage, the highest for the Tigers over the 2020 season.
SET ONE
Facing as much as an eight-point deficit, Auburn's offense sparked to life with White at the service line and Dorrell coming off the bench. The Tigers put together a 5-0 run with kills from Dorrell and Shipes, a service ace from White and big block from McClellan and Dorrell. After an Auburn service error, back-to-back kills by the Tigers cut South Carolina's lead to two, but Tiger attacking errors allowed South Carolina to pull away for the set one win.
SET TWO
Set two was a back-and-forth affair through the opening points, Auburn used a trio of blocks from Brown and a service ace to take a 18-14 advantage and force a South Carolina timeout. The Gamecocks pulled within one late, 22-21, with a kill by Mikayla Robinson, but back-to-back kills from Green and Shipes propelled Auburn to its first set win of the season.
SET THREE
South Carolina bounced back in set three with a four-point lead at the media timeout, 11-15. Hampered with errors at the service line, Auburn saw the deficit grow to 15-20, before climbing back with a pair of kills and a block from Barrett and McClellan to cut the lead to three. Another Barret-McClellan block fought off set point, but Carolina took the advantage in the match with a 25-20 win.
SET FOUR
In a very tight-knit set that saw seven ties in the early stages, South Carolina took a slight 15-16 advantage with a kill from Robinson. Auburn would crawl back to lock things up at 19-all with a block from Dorrell and Brown. The two squads traded points again taking advantages of errors to lock the score at 22-22. After a Kyla Manning service ace, Auburn used a quick time out. McClellan fired away after the break with a kill to lock the set back up at 23-all, but back-to-back Gamecock kills secured the match.
UP NEXT
Auburn will have over a week between matches as the Tigers continue their road trip with back-to-back matches at No. 3 Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 7 and Sunday, Nov. 8. Both matches are set for 3 p.m. CT first serves.
Auburn sets program’s four-set blocking record in shootout with Gamecocks
