AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn Volleyball put up another valiant effort against Arkansas on Saturday evening but the Tigers weren't able to push the right buttons at the right times, falling to the Razorbacks, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-17).
Much like Friday afternoon's affair, the first set featured a back-and-forth slugfest. Bel Zimmerman and Kendal Kemp each found room for three kills apiece. Kemp also put down two monster blocks to keep pace with the visitors.
Fallan Lanham's ace, the team's first of three on the evening, tied the set at 17. However, a couple of points fell by way of Arkansas, giving them the early lead.
Lanham, Sarah Morton and Zoe Slaughter stepped up their game in serve receive, allowing the offense to work a much higher tempo. Kemp and the rest of the Orange and Blue hitters reaped the benefits. Another four kills on six swings had the Eagan, Minnesota native firing on all cylinders.
The 6'6" freshman would finish with eight kills on an even .400 hitting with another five blocks, bringing her season total to 167.
A couple of stout serves from Jackie Barret would let the Tigers roll off a 3-0 run late in the second set. Once more, Arkansas responded with an answer to leak out to a two-set lead.
The Razorbacks opened the third set on a bit of a run. After using his second timeout, head coach Brent Crouch's team found another gear.
Barrett, Slaughter and Akasha Anderson all found some success at the service line. Anderson would also combine with Kemp on an emphatic block that brought the Tigers within one.
A patented Auburn comeback was not in the cards on Saturday, though, as the Razorbacks finished off the match, 3-0.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn ends the regular season with 21 wins, tying the most since 2010
- The Tiger's 10 SEC victories are also the most since 2015
- Kendal Kemp added to her record-setting total of blocks in a single season. Kemp now has 167 on the year.
- Sarah Morton secured a double-digit dig total for the 24th time this season
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"I mean hats off to Arkansas. They're a really skilled team. I think their elite skill is just making good contact after good contact. They rarely get aced or have a bad pass. They almost always set a ball they can get a swing on and they rarely hit out. So they are constantly putting pressure on you. I thought it was a nice step forward for us today. We didn't get the win but I thought it was a better showing than yesterday, certainly in some key areas. We were much better around serve receive, and that's an excellent serving team. Some tactical things we did were a little better. Tipping to area two was a nice little change for us. They're a good team and we're just not at that level yet. But we're excited to get to that level. And we're going to get there with this many freshmen.
On the season…
"Losing three matches to end the season is obviously not ideal. I think we're a long shot to make it into the tournament at this point but you never know. The fact that we're playing meaningful matches at the end of the year means our season was extremely successful. We've laid a really good foundation for the future. If we don't make it into the tournament, it's going to light more of a fire in this group. And if we do make it in, that's going to light a fire too. The season as a whole was just a huge plus and it's going to propel us to greater success."
UP NEXT
Auburn will await its fate for the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU