Auburn volleyball traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, Saturday to take on another top-five opponent. The Tigers found an offensive rhythm but lost in straight sets to the No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats.
Auburn dropped the opening set 25-14 but fought off a pair of set points to give Kentucky a challenge late in set two. The Wildcats were able to respond and won the second set 25-16.
Auburn's most competitive set was the third and final set. After trailing 3-1, Auburn went on a 3-0 run courtesy of junior outside hitter Tatum Shipes who provided two kills to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
Kentucky tied the set up at 4-4, but Shipes gave Auburn the lead with another kill.
A 3-0 run by the Wildcats put Kentucky back out front, but the Tigers battled once more to tie the third set up at 8 apiece with a block from senior outside Lauren Dorrell and freshman opposite Audrey Douglas.
However, the Tigers' offense struggled to keep up with Kentucky’s and allowed the Wildcats to win 25-15.
Auburn's attack was led by Shipes and Dorrell, as each finished with eight kills on the night. Six of Shipes’ eight kills came in the third and final set, and Dorrell only committed two errors on her 23 attempts for a .261 attack percentage.
Senior Jaeden Brown saw action for the first time on the outside and tallied a season-high six kills.
Freshman Jackie Barrett finished with 18 assists in her third consecutive start at setter. Starting libero senior Payton White had five assists, tying her season-high.
White led the Tigers at the service line with two aces and now leads Auburn with four service aces this season.
Defensively, Auburn out-performed Kentucky seven to six on blocks, and the Tigers have now out-blocked their opponent in three of its five matches this season. Senior Chesney McClellan led Auburn with four blocks, while Dorrell and Shipes had three blocks each.
The Tigers will face off against the Wildcats in a rematch against Kentucky on Sunday. The first serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST and will be broadcasted on the SEC Network.
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