After making a strong statement in the first set, Auburn's Volleyball team struggled to hold on and lost three sets in a row to fall to No. 11 Kentucky Sunday afternoon, 3-1.
The loss put Auburn's record at 15-13 overall and 7-10 in the SEC. Kentucky's record is now 26-2 overall and 16-1 in conference play.
The first set saw the Tigers down by six, but the team battled back aggressively with several ties and lead changes to pull out a 25-22 win.
The second set was just as close for the two teams, but the Tigers lost 25-22.
The teams went into the break tied at one set a piece.
When the third set started, it was a different game being played on the court. The Tigers let Kentucky have seven unanswered points and another five at the end to lose 25-11.
Seeing how his team handled itself in the third set, head coach Wade Benson decided to put all freshmen out in the fourth set to get them play time against a quality team.
"If we had come out in game three and played the level we did in one and two, I probably wouldn't have done it," Benson said.
In the fourth set, the girls had many runs against them and a service error by freshman outside hitter Katherine Culwell rounded out the match point for Kentucky.
The Tigers came into the match of a home win thriller against Tennessee, who is 20-7 overall and 13-4 in the SEC.
Tennessee won the first two sets, but the Tigers battled their way back and won the last three to win the match 3-2.
Benson said his team accomplished a lot with the win against Tennessee and felt the girls played well against Kentucky.
"I think we've exceeded our goal this year so far, and we're just going to keep going with it," Benson said. "I like this group a lot, and we've got a great outlook for next year."
Leading the Auburn team was freshman outside hitter Sarah Bullock with 13 kills and eight digs. Junior libero Liz Crouch had a team-high 17 digs.
Another Tiger who showed well against Kentucky was junior setter Sarah Shanks who picked up her second consecutive double-double, recording 21 assists and 10 digs.
Bullock said she felt the biggest problem for the team was keeping its concentration up for more than one or two sets.
"You have to go all five games if you have to and that's what we are still battling with," Bullock said.
Auburn heads on the road for its next two games, the first being Arkansas Friday, and then on to Oxford to take on Ole Miss Sunday.
Bullock said coming off four straight road losses might cause some stress for the young team, but she feels they have to come out guns blaring and show people what they are made of.
Culwell agreed the team needs to maintain its focus throughout and said the girls need to learn to stay together throughout longer matches.
"We're going to focus through the last week and a half of practice to finish the season out strong," Culwell said.
Benson said his expectations are to win the last three matches, finish 10-10 in the SEC and maybe have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
