KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Three Tigers reached double-figure kill totals but it wasn’t enough for Auburn (14-4, 4-3) to catch Tennessee (10-7, 3-4) in a four-set affair inside Food City Center, 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 15-25, 25-
Tough serving had the Tigers off on the right foot to open the match. Fallan Lanham capitalized on two aces and Kalei Edson added one of her own as well.
Unforced errors were the story of set No. 1, and ultimately the match, for the Orange and Blue. Even though Auburn racked up more kills and aces, hitting errors put the Tigers in a hole that was difficult to climb out of.
While Emma Moore, Bel Zimmerman, Lauren Dreves and Chelsey McCurdy all combined for blocks, the Lady Volunteers managed to close out the first frame, 25-19.
Offense wasn’t the issue for the Tigers in the second stanza. At the media timeout, the Orange and Blue were swinging north of .500 with both middle blockers finding pairs of kills.
Fresh off her stellar performance at Alabama, Bella Bell continued her strong swinging. By the end of the second set the Blythewood, South Carolina native had seven kills on .333 hitting. Bell would finish the afternoon with 11 kills.
Auburn tied things up at 19 apiece late in the frame but Tennessee ended the set on a 7-0 run to put the Tigers down, 2-0.
Head coach Brent Crouch and his crew never quit. And it showed in the third set.
Behind a 7-0 run with Lanham at the line, Auburn raced out to take control of the frame and never looked back.
Bel Zimmerman exploded to 11 kills and was hitting north of .300 by the end of the third. As a whole, her squad hit .545 in the set, compared to Tennessee’s .000.
It all added up to a dominant set win, 25-15, and pushed the match into the fourth.
Kills were difficult to come by in the fourth set for the Tigers.
Zimmerman, Scheer and Bell all eclipsed double figures in kill totals and Alexis Dacosta reached 11 digs. However, it wasn’t quite enough to catch the Lady Volunteers as the home side took the match, 3-1.
MATCH NOTES
- Madison Scheer (13 kills) reached double digits for the 15th time this season and the 11th time in a row
- Fallan Lanham’s three aces were a season-high
- Bella Bell (11 kills) reached double digits for the 10th time this season and third match in a row
- Bel Zimmerman (15 kills) reached double digits for the 11th time this season and the sixth match in a row
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Opening statement…
“Obviously, a tough loss today. I thought we had some unforced errors there in the first set that put us behind early and it made it difficult to overcome. We were able to make a few adjustments in the fourth, particularly at the service line, and it made a huge difference. Winning the SEC is never easy, especially on the road. We’ll be looking forward to returning home to Neville on Friday.”