KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Auburn volleyball (6-22, 0-17 SEC) dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-15) decision to Tennessee at the Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night.
Sophomore Tatum Shipes turned in her best performance of the season with a season-high 18 kills and matched her career-high with 18 digs for her sixth double-double performance. Shipes added an ace to total a season-high 19 points. Senior Shaina White and sophomore Lily Thomason both chipped in nine kills each. Returning to her home state, junior Chesney McClellan recorded eight kills.
Junior Morgan Kull added her fourth double-double outing with 41 assists, just two shy of her career high, and 10 digs. Bella Rosenthall was the third Tiger to finish with double-digit digs, leading the team with 21.
Tennessee (14-13, 8-9 SEC) was led by Tessa Grubbs and Lily Felts as both recorded 14 kills. Felts added 14 digs for a double-double. Sedona Hansen tallied 47 assists. Defensively, Tennessee was led by Asha Phillips with 28 digs.
Auburn closes out the regular season on Saturday against in-state rival Alabama at Tuscaloosa. First serve is set for 12 p.m. CT on the SEC Network +.
SET ONE
Neither team could find much of advantage in the early stages of the match as the two squads went back-and-forth with five ties and two lead changes. The Lady Vols claimed a two-point advantage at the media timeout, 15-13. Tennessee found its groove with a 4-1 run out of the break to extend the lead to 19-14 and force two Tiger timeouts. Auburn fought back late as Tennessee native McClellan totaled four kills in the opening stanza alone, but the Lady Vols claimed the set 25-18.
SET TWO
A 4-0 start for the Lady Volunteers opened the second stanza at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Tigers battle back with two kills from Shipes, but a five-point lead for Tennessee, 10-5, forced an Auburn timeout. Auburn found some rhythm as a couple big kills from Shaina White pulled the Tigers within three, 14-11. The Lady Vols quieted the rally with a 5-0 run down the stretch. Auburn fought off back-to-back set points, but Tennessee hung on for the 25-18 victory.
SET THREE
The third set featured another early back-and forth battle with Auburn locking the set up at 4-all. A 4-0 run for the Lady Volunteers broke open the set and force a Tiger timeout with Tennessee leading 11-6. Another trading points, Tennessee used a 3-0 run to extend its lead to seven, 17-10. Auburn came out strong from its second timeout with four straight points to cut the lead to three, but the Lady Vols answered. The Tigers wouldn't go down quietly, mounting a 4-1 run to slice the lead to 21-19 and force a second Tennessee timeout. Back-to-back blocks out of the timeout locked the set up at 21-all with Shipes giving Auburn a 23-22 advantage with a kill. Shipes would do it once more to secure a 25-23 win for the Tigers.
SET FOUR
After a slow start by both squads, the Lady Vols used two runs to take a 15-10 advantage into the media timeout. Tennessee continued its stretch with a 4-2 run to push the lead to 19-12 and force two quick Tiger timeouts. The Tigers couldn't mount consecutive points down the stretch as Tennessee claimed the set and the match with a 25-15 final.