KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In one of the tightest matches of the season, Auburn (13-6, 4-4) fell in straight sets to Tennessee (14-3, 5-2), 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24) inside the Food City Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Vols kicked off the set with a quick 6-0 run, putting the Tigers in a hole early. Head coach Brent Crouch and the Orange and Blue would find their rhythm, though.
An Auburn 6-0 counterpunch brought Auburn within two, 12-14, and forced an early Tennessee timeout.
Behind solid passing and even better digging from Alexis Dacosta and Lauren Dreves, it was the middles and right sides who found the most success offensively. Bel Zimmerman ended the frame with a team-high five kills while Grace Havlicek had three.
Havlicek matched her career high with eight kills on the afternoon.
Even though Auburn held a high-powered Lady Vol offense to just .200 in the set, the Tigers only hit .186 as their comeback fell just short, 23-25.
The Orange and Blue kicked off the second set with a 4-1 run to keep its momentum rolling from set No. 1.
Auburn’s defense continued to flex its muscles all afternoon long. Dacosta would finish with a game-high 12 digs, with Dreves close behind at 10. Meanwhile, Havlicek led the way in the front row with four total blocks as Kate Mansfield managed three of her own.
Combined with 10 kills, Dreves notched her team-leading sixth double-double of the season.
Set two featured eight ties as Dreves delivered four kills on her 10 swings. Trailing late, the Tigers pieced together a 3-0 run that included back-to-back rejections to tie the frame at 23. Two quick points from the home side, though, put the set on ice and forced Auburn to play from a 2-0 deficit.
Barely a point separated Auburn and Tennessee and it was never more prevalent than during the third set. Fourteen ties and six lead changes highlighted the most dramatic set of the afternoon.
Freshman Greer Chambless, who earned her first action as a Tiger, piled up five of her seven kills in the third set alone. Her counterpart on the left in Lauren Dreves added five for herself as Auburn hit .294.
Tennessee, however, managed a .324 hitting percentage and delivered the final two points to close out the set, 26-24, and the match, 3-0.
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Head coach, Brent Crouch
“Certainly is frustrating to have a result like that. I thought we played much better than a sweep. It was good to get Greer (Chambless) in there, and I felt she certainly found a rhythm there in the third set. It’s encouraging to be this close against ranked teams on the road, but I also think we left a little on the table there. End of sets is obviously something we need to work on, and we will before Arkansas on Wednesday.”
MATCH NOTES
- Lauren Dreves (10 kills) has reached double digits in all but two matches this season
- Dreves (10 digs) also notched her team-leading sixth double-double of the season
- Alexis Dacosta (12 digs) reached double digits for the 14th time this season
- Grace Havlicek matched her career high with eight kills
- Greer Chambless saw her first action as a Tiger, recording seven kills