Auburn Volleyball hit the road to Knoxville on Sunday, Oct. 19 to take on the No. 16 Tennessee Volunteers. Despite Auburn’s best efforts, the Tigers fell in straight sets.
Tennessee opened the match strong with a 6–0 run, forcing Auburn to call an early timeout. Out of the break, Bel Zimmerman provided a spark with impressive kills that helped shift momentum. Despite the early deficit, Auburn started to find rhythm.
Liz Markovska recorded her first kill of the day to close the gap to 7–14. The Tigers continued to fight, narrowing the score to 11–14. However Tennessee’s front-row defense was dominant, keeping Auburn in check. A late push from Kate Mansfield and Zimmerman was enough to keep things close, but the Volunteers closed out the set 25–23.
Auburn came out firing in the second set, taking a quick 4–1 lead and capitalizing on Tennessee’s hitting errors. A Lauren Dreves kill gave Auburn a 6–3 lead, but the Volunteers fought back to tie the set at 14–14. However, the Volunteers would pull away from there, with a late attack error giving Tennessee the set, 25–23.
Tennessee started strong again in the third set, taking an early 2–0 lead with consecutive aces. Dreves responded with another kill to tie it at 3–3, and the two teams traded points in a tight battle. Auburn briefly pulled ahead 11–9 behind strong play from Grace Hevlicek, who notched her sixth kill of the match.
Late in the set, Auburn fought to keep control, but Tennessee tied it at 19–19. The set would need extra points to be decided, with the Volunteers taking the final two points to win the set 26-24 and the match 3-0.
Dreves led the way for the Tigers with 10 kills, and Havlicek had another impressive performance with 8 kills, 4 blocks, and an .800 hitting percentage.
The Tigers will look to bounce back as they return home to Neville Arena on Oct. 22nd to face Arkansas in another SEC matchup.
