No. 11 Tennessee beats Auburn despite Dreves' double-double

No. 11 Tennessee beats Auburn despite Dreves' double-doubleNo. 11 Tennessee beats Auburn despite Dreves' double-double

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn volleyball lost its second straight Southeastern Conference match on Sunday, losing in straight sets to No. 11 Tennessee. The Volunteers dominated the match, hitting .300 with 10 blocks. Kennedi Rogers led the attack for Tennessee with 15 kills and just one error on 38 attempts; she had 11 digs.

Auburn’s offense struggled, hitting .111 with zero aces. Defensively, Auburn could not stop the Volunteer attack with just three blocks.

The Volunteers opened up the match on a 7-3 run, but it was quickly turned down by a three-point run by Auburn to pull within one. Auburn took its first lead of the night with a four-point run, forcing a Tennessee timeout at 12-11. Tennessee regained the lead after winning 10 of 13 points to lead 21-15. The Volunteers closed out the opening set after trading points with the Tigers, 25-19.

Tennessee and Auburn were tight through the media timeout, with the Volunteers holding just a two-point lead at the media timeout. The Volunteers exploded out of the break with a 9-3 run to reach set point. Tennessee closed the set on a kill by Jalyn Stout, 25-18.

Tennessee’s third-set lead was more prominent from the beginning, leading 15-7 by the media timeout. Auburn began to chip back but only pulled within six points before Tennessee sealed the match on a 7-1 run, capped by back-to-back kills by Kennedi Rogers.

TIGER STANDOUTS

  • Lauren Dreves led Auburn with 10 kills, logging her third double-double of the season with 11 digs.
  • Shanelle Puetz had a team-leading 17 assists with four digs.

HEAD COACH CROUCH

  • “Not a good performance by any means on our end. No one was on for us tonight and all of their girls were on, so that’s never going to go our way. The blocking was rough all the way around for us. We can’t expect to win a match when we’re letting the other team hit .300.”

UP NEXT

  • Auburn volleyball hits the road next week for matches at Vanderbilt and Missouri. First serve in Nashville against the Commodores is set for 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 9. Sunday’s match at Missouri will start at 2 p.m. CT.

—War Eagle—