AUBURN, AL. (EETV)- On Friday evening, Auburn volleyball fell short against LSU at home in Neville Arena.
The pinked-out crowd honored Auburn’s annual “Dig Pink” match, which supports Breast Cancer research. This event included a "first serve" from an Auburn volleyball alum and introduced three members of the Auburn community who are fighting breast cancer.
In the first set, Auburn scored the first two points, highlighted by a kill from Chelsey McCurdy. However, the Tigers quickly lost momentum. LSU achieved two 4-0 scoring streaks; the first run put them ahead 13-11 and the second gave them an even larger lead of 20-13. After their scoring runs and achieving four aces, LSU secured the first set 25-17.
The second set began with an exciting back-and-forth battle. However, this came to a quick end when LSU went on a 5-0 scoring streak, putting them in the lead 16-11. Despite their comeback effort, the Orange and Blue were unable to succeed and lost the second set 25-20. Overall, service errors proved to be an alarming issue for Auburn, featuring six in this set alone.
Entering the third set, the Auburn Tigers were desperate for a win. Auburn featured a 6-0 scoring lead early on, with Lauren Dreves securing three of these points off of kills. This momentum continued and Chelsey McCurdy scored back-to-back aces. The kills continued, and Auburn’s front line recorded an impressive thirteen kills, of which six different players contributed. Auburn was able to reverse the score of the previous set, taking the set win 25-20.
Hoping to send the match to a fifth set, Auburn attempted to once again outshine LSU’s intensity. Head coach Brent Crouch did his best to determine the destiny of this set by calling a review that resulted in a reversed call, honoring an Auburn ace by Fallan Lanham which tied the match 12 apiece. Only a few points later, Crouch once again called a review; however, this challenge resulted in a confirmed call, giving LSU the point, leaving the score 18-17 Auburn. An interesting pattern took shape as Coach Crouch once again called for an official review, his third of the night, but this only confirmed a net violation by Lauren Dreves and maintained LSU’s lead 24-21. The match point was scored off of a kill from LSU, closing out the fourth set 25-21, and the match going to LSU 3-1.
After dropping three matches in a row, the Tigers will look for a win as they travel to South Carolina for a midday match-up at 1 p.m. on Oct. 27.
