AUBURN, Ala. (EETV)- An SEC Volleyball showdown took place in the Auburn Arena Wednesday night between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 3-2 in a five-set heartbreaker (26-24, 15-25, 25-22, 21-25, 18-20). Auburn is now 8-7 overall and 1-4 in SEC play.
Senior Brenna Mcllroy led the Tigers with 19 kills, followed by Anna Stevenson and Taylor Rowland with 9 kills. Mica Allison finished the night with 46 assists and Bella Rosenthall had 18 digs.
Auburn came out firing in the first set, with a score of 7-2. Anna Stevenson played a major role in the first set, putting a wall up at the net. She had 6 blocks on the night, including one to start the match off strong. The Bulldogs regrouped and tied the match up at 16-16. A kill from Taylor Rowland sealed the first set for the Tigers, 26-24.
The Bulldogs came out strong in set two. When score reached 17-9, the Tigers took a timeout to refocus. Georgia eventually prevailed with a score of 25-15.
The third set started with the Tigers being up 4-1. Brenna Mcllroy has a big block and kill to push the Tigers lead. As the set continued, the Tigers extended their lead to 19-11. Georgia came back to tie the set 16-16, before a stuff block from Stevenson/Allison put Auburn on a run 19-16. Gwen Jones makes a big block to give Auburn set point. The Tigers take set three 25-22.
Set four started off with 12 ties and six lead changes, but a kill from Mcllroy puts Auburn up 15-13 and forces a Bulldog timeout. After the timeout, Georgia went on a five-point run, and they eventually prevailed 25-21, forcing a fifth set.
The fifth set started the same way as the fourth, with 11 ties and four lead changes. Georgia eventually took the lead 14-11, but after a missed serve and strong kills from Auburn, the score was 14 all. Shaina White and Mica Allison had a key stuff block to give the Tigers match point, 17-16. Allison had a solo stuff block to tie the game back up at 18-18. But Georgia used their powerful outside hitters to take the match 20-18.
Auburn will host rival Alabama on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Auburn Arena. The game will also be aired on SEC+.
