Auburn fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road 3-1 on Saturday, dropping to a 2-3 SEC record.
The first set showed promise for an exciting match between two evenly matched teams. The Tigers and the Razorbacks were going back-and-forth scoring, with neither team definitively taking control of the match. Auburn won the set with a thrilling final score of 27-25.
However, the Razorbacks came storming back to claim a second set victory with a score of 25-18. The Arkansas momentum carried into the third and fourth sets, with the Razorbacks taking the win, and eventually the match, in each with scores of 25-23 and 25-22 respectively.
One of the biggest separations between the teams were the overall hitting percentages. Auburn gave up 66 kills and a .220 opponent hitting percentage, .100 higher than its SEC-leading .120 average opponent hitting percentage.
Arkansas held the Tigers to 49 kills and a .158 hitting percentage, as well as delivering on the service line with 11 team service aces.
The Tigers did have more blocks than the Razorbacks, out-blocking Arkansas 14-11.
Rebekah Rath led the Tigers in kills with 29 on the night. Rath received the majority of sets from her teammates, which put her in position to lead Auburn in kills. Val Green had the next highest total of kills with seven.
Taylor Head and Jillian Gillen each had 19 kills for Arkansas, while Ellease Crumpton came up close behind with a total of 15 kills.
Even though Auburn came away with the loss, one Tiger player did come away with an important milestone reached in her career. Senior libero Bella Rosenthall joined the exclusive 1,000-dig club during the match, becoming the 15th Tiger to do so in her Auburn career.
Auburn will face Arkansas again tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network-plus, where the Tigers will once again look to even their SEC record.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
