Alabama
Auburn
Alabama Volleyball Falls in Four Sets to Auburn
10/9/2016 4:04:00 PM | Volleyball
AUBURN, Ala. - Alabama volleyball fell in four sets on the road against Auburn Sunday afternoon by set scores of 19-25, 25-21, 19-25 and 19-25.
Alabama (13-5, 2-3 SEC) dropped the opening set before evening the match with a 25-21 win in the second. Auburn (9-10, 3-3 SEC) came out of intermission and won back-to-back sets by scores of 25-19 to secure the four-set victory, snapping a five-match winning streak by the Tide over the Tigers. Abolanle Onipede ended the match with a season-high 10 kills and .533 hitting percentage while Leah Lawrence tied a career high with four aces. Shannon Mikesky notched her eighth double-double of the season with 41 assists and 12 digs.
The teams traded points evenly early in the first set, with the first two-point lead for either team coming off an Auburn block to give the home team a 9-7 advantage. The Tigers scored two more to lead 11-7 at the Tide's first timeout and extended the lead to 14-8 when Alabama was forced to burn its second timeout. Auburn eventually moved ahead by eight, 18-10, before Alabama scored three-straight points to cut the deficit to five as Auburn took its first timeout up 18-13. Lawrence scored back-to-back service aces out of the break to bring the Tide within three but Auburn broke the streak with a kill to make it 19-15. The Tigers took its second timeout leading 19-17 and leading by two later in the set, 21-19, Auburn would close out the win with four-straight points, 25-19.
Trailing 6-4 early in set two, Alabama would swing momentum back in its favor with a 7-1 run to lead 11-7. Auburn fought back with a 7-2 run to take a 14-13 lead before a kill by Krystal Rivers and a solo block by Brittany Thomas gave Alabama a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Later, tied at 18-18, Alabama scored three-straight points capped by Lawrence's third service ace of the day to make it 21-18 as Auburn took its first team timeout. The Tigers took its second timeout on the very next point after a kill by Rivers made it 22-18 but the Tide would hold on to win the set, 25-21, and even the match at 1-1.
Alabama scored the first point in set three but Auburn quickly grabbed the early momentum, pulling ahead 11-6 after three-straight points as the Tide took a timeout. The Tigers held on to its five-point lead for the remainder of the set, eventually pulling ahead by a final margin of six points to win, 25-19, and take a 2-1 match lead.
Tied at 5-5 early in set four, Auburn scored three-straight points to move ahead 8-5 as Alabama took a timeout. The Tigers doubled its lead to 13-7 at the halfway point and the Tide was forced to burn its second and final timeout. Alabama would draw within three points after an ace by Krystal Rivers made it 17-14 but that would be as close as the set would get as Auburn charged ahead to win the frame, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
Next up, the Tide will have a quick turnaround before its next match, hosting Mississippi State (11-8, 3-2 SEC) on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. CT in Foster Auditorium. The match will air live on ESPNU.
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