COLUMBIA, SC – A record blocking performance on the net highlighted a round-trip match that saw Auburn volleyball (0-4, 0-4) total 17.0 team blocks in a 3-1 loss to South Carolina (3 -1, 3- 1 SEG) inside the Carolina Volleyball Center on Thursday afternoon.
After losing the opening set by 22-25, Auburn recovered to a 25-21 win to tie the match. Gamecocks would hold on to take two very hot sets for the 20-25 and 23-25 finals.
Auburn’s 17 blocks set the program record for a four-set game, surpassing the previous 14 total blocks against Tennessee on November 9, 2014. It also tied for the second highest number of blocks in a single game in history Auburn and was the highest number of blocks in a single match since the Tigers totaled 17 in a five-set competition against Georgia Southern on September 12, 2009.
Senior middle blocker Jaeden Brown led the way with a nine-block career record to tie for 13º most blocks in a single match in the program history. Brown added three deaths offensively. Its counterpart in the middle blocker, Chesney McClellan, tied his career with seven blocks. The senior also added nine casualties this season.
Was senior Lauren Dorrell who followed Auburn’s attack with 12 deaths, his career record, with a hit percentage of 0.522. Dorrell was flawless in his 23 attempts at attack and added four blocks and a couple of excavations. Junior Tatum Shipes achieved his seventh double-double career – the first for Auburn this season – with 11 deaths and 10 digs. It was also crucial to Auburn’s success in the six-block network.
Shipes was one of four Tigers with double-digit digs on Thursday afternoon. Junior Bella Rosenthall led the defense with a record of 16. Senior Payton White totaled 12 excavations as libero and junior of Auburn Val Green added 10.
Freshman Jackie Barrett distributed 35 assists, his career record, to lead Auburn to a team hit percentage of 0.162, the highest for Tigers in the 2020 season.
SET ONE
Facing an eight-point handicap, Auburn’s attack came to life with White on the service line and Dorrell coming off the bench. The Tigers managed a 5-0 run with deaths from Dorrell and Shipes, an ace in service from White and a big block from McClellan and Dorrell. After a service error at Auburn, Tigers’ consecutive deaths reduced South Carolina’s lead to two, but Tigre’s attacking errors allowed South Carolina to step aside for a definite victory.
SET TWO
The second set was a case of a round trip at the opening points, Auburn used a trio of Brown blocks and an ace of service to get an 18-14 lead and force a South Carolina timeout. Gamecocks pulled with a later, 22-21, with a death of Mikayla Robinson, but the consecutive deaths of Green and Shipes propelled Auburn to his first definite victory of the season.
SET THREE
South Carolina recovered in the third set with a four point lead in the media timeout, 11-15. Suffocated by errors in the service line, Auburn saw the deficit widen to 15-20, before returning with a couple of deaths and a blockade by Barrett and McClellan to reduce the lead to three. Another Barret-McClellan block fought outside the set point, but Carolina took the lead in the match with a 25-20 win.
SET FOUR
In a very cohesive set that saw seven draws in the early stages, South Carolina had a slight 15 to 16 lead with Robinson’s death. Auburn would crawl back to lock things up at seven – all a block from Dorrell and Brown. The two teams exchanged points again taking advantage of the mistakes to close the score at 22-22. After an ace of service from Kyla Manning, Auburn took the opportunity to take a quick break. McClellan fired after the break with one death to crash the set again at 23, but Gamecock’s consecutive deaths guaranteed the game.
NEXT
Auburn will have more than a week between games as the Tigers continue their journey with consecutive games at No. 3 Kentucky on Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8. Both games are scheduled for the first serves at 15:00 CT.