Auburn wrapped up the home weekend with a 3-1 (26-28, 25-14, 25-22, 25-15) win over Tennessee Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Auburn Arena for its third conference win of the season.
The Tigers (11-14, 3-9 SEC) came back focused after dropping three sets to Arkansas Friday.
Sophomores Stephanie Campbell and Emily Klitzke led the way with 14 blocks apiece, while freshman Macy Reece chipped in 12. Campbell has recorded double-digit kills in five of Auburn's last six matches.
Alexa Filley recorded 48 assists against the Lady Vols. The freshman ranks second in Auburn single-season history with 948 assists, and only needs 48 more for first place in the record book.
"It doesn't really cross my mind," Filley said. "During the game I'm not thinking about any of it. I'm thinking about winning."
The Tigers struggled in the first set. A back-and-forth battle late in the set got the crowd into what could have been a come-from-behind win for the Tigers, but Tennessee grabbed the final two points to take the opening set.
"Even though we lost that game just barely we were on a high and kept pushing with that energy," Campbell said. "Even though that game was a loss, we still benefitted from it."
Auburn came out firing on all cylinders in the second stanza hitting .357. They took an early 4-9 lead and rolled with it. Strong play at the net from Auburn overwhelmed Tennessee's defense as the Tigers jumped out to a 19-8 lead. A big kill from Klitzke, who posted four kills on nine swings in the set, capitalized the Tigers 25-14 win to tie it up 1-1 going into the locker room.
"I thought the first game we were pretty tentative when we were hitting," head coach Rick Nold said. "We did a good job passing, we just weren't taking advantage of the situation. The (second stanza) we just made adjustments and really started putting pressure on them with our offense."
Auburn jumped out to an early lead in the third set, but Tennessee tied things up 12-12. Auburn used a 6-0 run to re-gain the lead and eventually take the third set. Reece had six kills and the team had six blocks in the set, four coming from Campbell.
A fast start from Auburn helped them claim the final set. The Tigers lead their opponents 15-10 at the fourth set media timeout. Campbell tied her career-high with eight blocks and then collected an ace for the Tigers. Sophomore Breanna Barksdale sealed the deal with a kill to win it.
Auburn will play No. 7 Florida on the road Wednesday night in Gainesville, Florida.
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