Auburn lost its first conference match of the season and left Ole Miss undefeated.
The Tigers went into their first Southeastern Conference match against the undefeated Rebels who sat at the top of the SEC. Auburn’s opening looked promising as it won set one by a close margin, but ultimately lost the match 3-1.
Rebekah Rath was a key player for Auburn, despite the loss. Rath totaled 19 kills, the most over both teams. This was also four kills away from her season-best which was 24 versus Santa Clara. These kills were what made Ole Miss continue to fight for its win.
Auburn got off to a hot streak in set one with a small lead going 3-0. The Tigers put up some necessary blocks to slow Ole Miss down. This accompanied with eight errors from the Rebels gave Auburn a far lead. The Tigers held the lead over the whole set and went on a five-point streak mid-set.
Auburn held a 10-point lead as it reared the end of the set, but the excitement seemed to shake the Tigers a little. Ole Miss closed the gap to four and forced Auburn into a timeout after the Rebels hit a four-point run. Ultimately, Rebekah Rath had the final kill and Auburn took home set one by a score of 25-20.
Set two started in favor of the Rebels who took a 5-1 lead. Auburn had a hard time catching up, but came within one point after an attack error on Ole Miss. Liz Reich was the one to pull in with a kill to tie the set 13-13 and from there it was a battle on the court.
The teams passed points back and forth, but Auburn struggled to take the lead. Ole Miss went on a 3-0 run that forced an Auburn timeout. The Tigers looked to rally, but never got a hold of the lead and lost the set 25-19 to tie the match.
The third set was all the Rebels. Ole Miss took a jump lead 2-0 that was stopped by another kill from Rath. This was a common theme in the set as it happened again but with a 5-0 run from the Rebels put to bed by a Rath kill.
The Tigers went on a quick 4-0 run to get some momentum, but continued to trail by three. The Rebels furthered their lead and caught up to match Auburn’s overall kill count at 39. This factored into another no-lead set loss for Auburn, 25-19.
The final set saw a more competitive start as Auburn came within one at 5-4. However, this was the closest the Tigers got over the whole set. Ole Miss continued to run away with points, never allowing Auburn a sense of hope over the set. Rath totaled her lowest kills in a set at just three and it was obvious with the final score of 25-18.
Auburn will likely stay behind Ole Miss in the SEC rankings and sit out of the Top-25.
Auburn will revert back to a non-conference match Sunday Sept. 26 versus Alabama State in Montgomery at 3 p.m. CST.
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Mattison is a senior majoring in Public Relations from Springville, Alabama. She has been part of The Auburn Plainsman since 2019.
Twitter: @mattcurtlynn
