Auburn volleyball fell to No. 2 Kentucky in straight sets Sunday to finish up its road games for the season.
The Tigers trailed the majority of the match as the Wildcats ran away on offense.
Auburn fell, 25-12, 25-19 and 25-15, respectively, in each set. The Auburn offense struggled all night with just 29 total kills.
Auburn was able to put down 10 kills in set one, but it was no match for Kentucky’s 15. The Wildcat offense overwhelmed Auburn and headed into set two.
Auburn found some rhythm in the second set after trailing 4-0. The Tigers took advantage of a pair of Wildcat errors with a kill from freshman Audrey Douglas and a block from senior Jaeden Brown to tie the set up at four. A block from Douglas and junior Tatum Shipes gave the Tigers their first lead in the set.
This was followed by an ace from junior Bella Rosenthall to give the Tigers an 8-6 lead.
However, a 4-0 run from Kentucky gave the Wildcats an 11-9 lead. Senior Chesney McClellan found a groove and put up a solo block, but a second Wildcat run extended the lead to 16-11.
As the match came down to Kentucky’s set point, Auburn battled back with a 3-0 run consisting of a McClellan kill and a pair of Wildcat errors, but a service error handed Kentucky the 25-19 win.
Set three saw similar issues to set one as the Wildcats jumped out to a six-point lead, forcing an early Tiger timeout. Auburn made a slight comeback to cut the lead to three by taking advantage of Kentucky's mistakes and a pair of kills from Douglas and McClellan.
Auburn came within one and was down 14-13, following a kill from Douglas, but the Wildcat offense turned it around and secured a 25-15 win.
Douglas was the most efficient of Auburn’s hitters on the day with a career-high six kills on 11 attempts. She remained errorless the whole match and ended with a .545 hitting percentage.
Brown finished with a season-high six kills after being placed on the outside for her second match in Lexington, Kentucky. Shipes and Lauren Dorrell tallied six kills each, while McClellan rounded out Auburn’s offense with five herself.
Rosenthall recorded her second double-digit dig match of the season. She led the team with 10 digs and added an ace.
Auburn will return to Auburn Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 18, against Tennessee at 7 p.m. CST on the SEC Network. Followed by the season finale against the Lady Volunteers on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. CST.
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.
Mattison Allen is a senior from Springville, Ala. She's majoring in public relations communications with the goal of becoming a sports information director one day.
