AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - Auburn’s defense was overpowered by No. 20 Tennessee’s explosive offense that totaled 45 kills. The Lady Vols swept the Tigers (16-25, 21-25, 14-25) Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Junior Rebekah Rath led the Tigers in kills with a total of nine. On defense, the outside hitter added 10 digs and three blocks.
Jackie Barret led the team in both assists and digs with a total of 18 and 12 respectively. The sophomore also added two blocks and a kill.
The Tigers finished the match with 10 blocks, senior Tatum Shipes led the team with six while Elif Yavuz had four and Rath had three.
SET ONE
The Lady Vols got off to a hot start, going up 7-2, but the Tigers battled back to 11-7 thanks to a couple kills from Liz Reich and another from Rath. Tennessee pulled away to win the set 25-16 thanks to multiple 3-0 runs down the stretch.
SET TWO
Auburn came out in the second set looking strong with a kill and a block by Rath to go up 2-0, their only lead of the match but proceeded to drop the next five points to the Lady Vols. The Tigers battled back to tie it at 17 apiece thanks to a strong defensive showing with six blocks. Tennessee closed the set with three straight kills by Lily Felts.
SET THREE
Tennessee jumped out to a 7-0 run to start the set thanks to kills from three different Lady Vols. Auburn was able to battle back to 11-7 but another 8-0 run secured the sweep for the Volunteers.
Auburn will look to bounce back this weekend with a pair of games against in-state rival Alabama. The first game kicks off Saturday at 4:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+. They will follow that up Sunday at 2 p.m on ESPNU.
