Tennessee volleyball falls to Auburn 3-1

Tennessee (11-12, 4-10 SEC) fell to Auburn 3-1 after an intense match in Auburn Arena on Thursday night. Tessa Grubbs led the team with 10 kills followed by Madison Coulter and Breana Jeter with nine kills each. Brooke Schumacher led the team with 26 digs followed by Coulter and Sedona Hansen with 16 digs each. Hansen continues to impress fans while on the road as she led the team with 25 assists.

In the beginning of set one, Auburn (14-8, 7-6 SEC) took a four-point run and gained a little lead on the Vols early on in the set. After that, the Vols applied the pressure to the Tigers and took off with their own four-point run to tie the match 5-5. Half way through the set, the Vols forced the Tigers into a few errors and went on a 7-3 run to take a 16-13 lead. After that, the match went back-and-forth with five game ties, but Tennessee failed to take the lead allowing Auburn to win the set, 25-22.

Tennessee continued to put pressure on Auburn in the second set as they continued to exchange points. The Lady Vols rallied early in the set and took a 9-6 lead over Auburn. The matched remained close as Tennessee rallied again late in the set, taking a 23-20 lead and pushed through, winning the set 25-23.

The Vols struggled in the third set making a few errors which allowed Auburn to take a three-point run followed by a four-point run making the score 18-15. Tennessee took a timeout to rebuttal but couldn’t come back, losing 25-18.

Tennessee continued to struggle in the fourth set and Auburn took a four-point run in the middle of the set leaving the score at 15-11. Tennessee again struggled to keep up and Auburn closed the set with a 25-20 win.

The Vols will end their last road trip of the season in Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide in Foster Auditorium this Sunday at 2 p.m. Tennessee will then close its season with three home games in Thompson-Boling Arena against Ole Miss, Georgia and LSU.

Edited by Ben McKee

Feature image courtesy of UT Sports