MADISON, Wis. – The Auburn volleyball team fell in straight sets on the road at No. 5 Wisconsin in a tight match, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-20), inside the UW Field House Thursday night on the final day of the Big Ten/SEC Challenge.
Junior Lauren Dreves once again led the match in kills with 14, while junior Belle Patrick added nine and had a team-best nine digs.
Defensively, Auburn bested Wisconsin in blocks, having five on the night. Junior Emma Moore came off the bench and totaled three stuffs, while classmate Kate Mansfield and senior Shanelle Puetz had two.
Junior Anastasija Ivkovic led all student-athletes with three service aces, setting a career high. Sophomore setter Carson Eickenloff led the team with 16 assists.
Wisconsin (3-3) had a pair of hitters with double-digit kills in Eva Travis (10) and Halle Thompson (11). The home team’s offense finished with a .305 hitting percentage and the defense totaled 57 digs.
The Badgers opened the match with a 6-1 lead and held their big advantage through the early parts of the set. A kill from Patrick and an ace by Ivkovic cut the Wisconsin lead to two (15-13) and a kill from Dreves and another Ivkovic ace tied the set at 23-all late. The Badgers regrouped and took the set, 25-23.
The second set started much like the same with the home team going up early, 5-1. A Puetz/Mansfield block triggered a three-point run for the Tigers to tie it up at 7-7 and another sun of the same amount gave AU the lead at 13-12. A Wisconsin timely timeout led to a 7-0 run for the Badgers (19-13) and home team won the set, 25-17.
Auburn took a 5-3 lead in the third highlighted by a block from Moore and Patrick. A pair of errors gave the Tigers a 7-5 lead, but Wisconsin regrouped to go on a five-point run to hold a 10-7 advantage. Another long Badger run made it 20-17 and Wisconsin went on to take the match, 25-20.
The Tigers continue their road swing vs. tough opponents, traveling to Tallahassee for a Tuesday night match at Florida State. Auburn and the Seminoles will face off at 6 p.m. CT in the ACC/SEC Showdown at the Net and the match will be televised on ACC Network.
HEAD COACH BRENT CROUCH
“I don’t believe we need to change much of what we’re doing. We just have to more consistent throughout the match and stay focused when things are moving in our direction. We had a lot of bright spots and big plays, having strong serves and scrappy play. This team has a lot to be proud of and a lot to bring with them into next week’s road challenges.”
MATCH NOTES
-Tonight’s match was the first-ever meeting between Auburn and Wisconsin.
-Lauren Dreves led all hitters with 14 kills in the match and hit .239 overall.
-Anastasija Ivkovic began the match at the libero position and totaled three aces as a serving libero.
-Emma Moore came off the bench and led the team with three blocks in her first action since the 2024-25 season. She sat out last season following a season-ending elbow injury.