Shipes notches record, but Auburn falls to LSU

Auburn lost in straight sets to LSU on Friday night to fall to 12-9 (4-7) on the season. 

This marks Auburn’s second straight loss and fourth home loss of the season. 

Auburn was never able to take firm control of the lead in any set. It was always playing from behind, struggling to keep up with LSU’s Kylie Deberg who finished the game with 15 kills, seven digs and three service aces. 

Throughout the season, Auburn has heavily relied on Rebekah Rath to be its main source of offense. That reliance was no different, but she was not able to put up her regular numbers. She finished with a negative 0.40 hitting percentage on 50 attacks which was by far the most attacks by anyone in the match. 

No one else for Auburn stepped up offensively to help carry the load like Rath typically does. The reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Liz Reich, only totaled eight kills, and Val Green had seven of her own. 

As a whole, Auburn was only able to gather a .121 hitting percentage while LSU’s hitting percentage was .202 as a team. 

Another theme of the match was the number of aces LSU was able to record in comparison to Auburn’s. LSU put up 13 while Auburn did not record a single ace. These aces seemed to come at the opportune time for the Bayou Bengals. 

In set one, LSU gained three of its final six points from aces to close out Auburn. LSU also gained a massive point off a service ace in the final set to halt an Auburn run and later put away the game. 

Sophomore Jackie Barrett tallied another double-double, with 22 assists and 13 digs. 

Tatum Shipes had three blocks in the game, and that was good enough to propel her to the single-season Auburn record for blocks in a season. Shipes now stands at 120 blocks on the season. 

Auburn travels to College Station, Texas, next Thursday to take on 11-9 (4-6) Texas A&M in a two-match series against the Aggies.