BATON ROUGE, La. – Akasha Anderson and Jackie Barrett each dialed up double-doubles as Auburn Volleyball nearly grabbed its fourth five-set win of the season, but it was LSU who managed to close out the contest, 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-12).
Anderson, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, came out swinging well in the early parts of the first set. Two kills on her first four swings had Auburn keeping pace with LSU.
Anderson would put down four in the opening frame, and fellow freshman Madison Scheer added five kills of her own.
Even late in the set, head coach Brent Crouch's Tigers didn't back down. Separate runs of two and three points forced an LSU timeout at 22-20.
While starting libero Sarah Morton managed to track down five digs, .300 hitting from the home side proved too much for Auburn to overcome as LSU took the early lead.
Better passing and a more energetic defense kept Auburn in lockstep with LSU in the second set.
After a pair of kills in the first, Chelsey Harmon kept swinging at an efficient rate a set later. At the media break, the Puyallup, Washington native had five kills on a .625 percentage.
Harmon's effort along with a couple of kills from Kendal Kemp and Bel Zimmerman put Auburn within striking distance a the midway point.
Out of the media timeout, Auburn's block woke up and didn't want to go back to sleep.
Harmon and Zimmerman combined for not one, not two but three straight blocks to stun the home crowd.
Suddenly, a rejuvenated Orange and Blue squad rallied off a 7-0 run to make it 23-18 and closed out set No. 2 the only way it knew how – with a stuff from Anderson and Kemp.
Orchestrating the offense, Barrett was doing a little bit of everything. By the time the third set came around, the junior from Highland, California had already recorded her fourth double-double of the season.
Anderson was also on double-double duty in the third. Climbing over 15 kills for the match, she'd add another 10 digs for the fifth double-double of her short career.
Auburn's energy and effort were unmatched. Adding three more blocks, Crouch's crew took a stranglehold on the set and never let go.
Kemp and Harmon kept pounding balls out of the middle, Fallan Lanham added an ace, and it all led to a two-set lead for the Orange and Blue.
Auburn ran a clinic out of the middle in the fourth set. Harmon and Kemp tag-teamed a highlight-worthy effort that put the Tigers up 14-6 and forced LSU to use both of their timeouts before the media break was even supposed to hit.
LSU wasn't about to run and hide just yet, though. Keeping Auburn out of system, the home side put together a run to tie and ultimately take the lead in the fourth.
Tied at two sets apiece, the two were forced to play a decisive fifth, Auburn's fourth of the season.
Momentum on its side, LSU raced out to the quick advantage. It wasn't until it was 1-9 did Auburn find a little rhythm to put together a run.
Two different three-point runs forced the home side to call a timeout. Four different Auburn players ended with double-figure kill totals but it wasn't enough as LSU finished off the fifth to hand Auburn its first loss of the season.
MATCH NOTES
- Jackie Barrett recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 60 assists and 14 digs
- Barrett's 60 assists were a career-high
- Akasha Anderson solidified her fifth double-double of the season with 22 kills and 11 digs
- Fallan Lanham collected a career-high in digs with 21
- Sarah Morton has grabbed at least 10 digs in 14 of the 15 matches this season after grabbing 21 digs
- Auburn is now 3-1 in five-set matches this season
- Kendal Kemp tied her career-best with 10 kills
- Chelsey Harmon tied her season-high with 12 kills
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"I thought we battled really hard. You know this team, win or lose, they're working as hard as they can all the time. And it's obvious. When you're down as much as we were in the fifth and then to come back that close is just an example of it.
"We're so young and battled so tough on the road. LSU made some good adjustments in the fourth set. They made a sub and just kind of went for it. On our side, there were for sure some steps forward. Tonight was by far our best night for us attacking the slide. We just couldn't put together enough runs at the right times to win it."