Auburn falls short in series finale at Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. – Despite an impressive offensive performance on the right side from graduate student Liz Reich, Auburn volleyball (12-7, 4-6 SEC) fell in straight sets (14-25, 18-25, 23-25) to Georgia (6-13, 2-6 SEC) Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

In her most efficient performance in conference play, Reich swung at a .409 hitting percentage as she landed 12 kills on 22 swings, committing just three errors. She set the tone for the Tiger offense in the first set as she landed five kills on six total swings. Reich added two blocks and a dig in her performance.

Returning to form, junior Rebekah Rath totaled a match-leading 16 kills for the Tigers. With her performance, Rath once again etched her name in Auburn's record book as she now stands fifth in single-season history with 335 kills. Defensively, Rath was credited with three blocks and eight digs.

Tatum Shipes added a strong offensive performance as she closed the night with five kills on nine attempts for a .556 hitting percentage. With three blocks in Friday's contest, the senor has 117.0 total this season and is now three blocks shy of Auburn's single-season record.

Rounding out the offense, senior Val Green chipped in four kills while sophomore Jackie Barrett added three from the setter position. Barrett's stat line included 30 assists, one block and six digs.

Defensively, senior libero Bella Rosenthall paced the Tigers with 12 digs, her 19th match of the season with at least 10. Rosenthall now stands ninth in Auburn single-season history with 398 digs.

Freshman Kate Curtis added eight digs in the match.

SET ONE
It was a back-and-forth affair in the early going as the opening points featured four ties before Georgia went on a 6-0 run with Amber Stivrins at the service line. Green and Reich silenced the run with kills, but the Georgia defense kept the Tigers from stringing together consecutive points to attempt to close the gap. The Bulldogs used a late 5-0 run to push their lead to 10 points. Reich landed a pair of kills late, but Georgia held on for the 25-14 victory. The Bulldogs went errorless in the opening stanza with 14 kills on 27 attempts for a .519 hitting percentage.
 
SET TWO
Auburn jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind its first block of the match and a pair of kills from the combo of Rath and Reich. Auburn added to its lead with another Reich kill and a Georgia error, but the Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run that featured four kills to jump in front, 8-5. The Tigers used their play at the net to cut the lead down to one before Georgia landed a pair of kills and a service ace to take a 13-8 advantage. After a late 6-0 run extended Georgia's lead to nine points, Auburn continued to battle with a pair of kills from Rath and timely Tiger block. Rath was able to fight off a set point with another kill, but Georgia closed the set with a Meghan Froemming kill to win 25-18.
 
SET THREE
Using a pair of kills and a block, Auburn built an early 4-1 lead. Back-to-back kills from Shipes was followed by a big swing from Green to string to extend the Tiger advantage to 7-3. Georgia answered with a 4-0 run to tie the set at 8-all. Trading points for four ties, Auburn spread the offense with kills from Reich, Rath and Shipes to find a two-point edge, 15-13. Georgia answered, using a kill and block to tie the set up at 15-all. That would set the tone down the stretch as the two teams traded points to combine for four additional ties. Georgia would go up by two late with help of a block and a service ace, but Auburn responded to tie the set at 23-all with a Reich kill and block from Rath and Shipes. Following a Georgia timeout, the Bulldogs landed a kill from Stivrins before a Georgia block put the set away, 25-23.
 
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to Auburn Arena on Friday, Oct. 29 to host LSU for a single match. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.