BATON ROUGE — The Auburn volleyball team lost the first game, but rallied to win the next three and hand LSU a 4-15, 15-13, 15-9, 15-9 defeat in Baton Rouge, La.
The loss drops LSU to 11-13 on the season and 5-8 in Southeastern Conference play. Auburn improves to 13-13 overall and 3-10 in conference play. More importantly, LSU was unable to clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament, which will consist of the league?s eight best teams from Nov. 17-19 in Gainesville, Fla.
Offensive efficiency was the key for Auburn’s victory as the Tigers hit -.174 in game one, but came back to hit at least .246 in the final three games. On the contrary, LSU was on fire in game one with a .333 attack percentage. >From there it was all downhill as the Tigers attack percentage dropped at least .050 in each of the next three games.
Nicole Sandifer and Jaunelle Hamilton double-teamed LSU as each hit for a .351 clip in the match with 19 and 18 kills respectively. Hamilton added 13 digs and five blocks for a complete performance.
Leading LSU in the loss was middle blocker Lauren Cuyler and outside hitter Jennifer Hampton. Cuyler posted a team-high 16 kills en route to a .353 attack percentage. She added four blocks, including one solo.
Hampton hit for 15 kills and a .343 attack percentage. She also had a match-high 16 digs to record her 11th double-double of the season.
The Bengal Tigers opened the match in control as they easily won the first game with two successful streaks. Defensive specialist Jenny Greco served up six consecutive points after LSU had fallen behind 3-0. After Auburn cut the deficit to two, Hampton ran off nine straight on her serve to give the home-standing Tigers a one game lead.
LSU continued to dominate in game two in racing out to a 5-1 lead. However, Auburn quickly tied the game at five. The game then went back and forth with neither team gaining a clear advantage until Auburn won the final two points and knot the match at a one game all.
Using momentum gained in the second game, the visiting Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead in game three. LSU would manage to cut the lead to four at 13-9, but could come no closer. Game four went in similar fashion as Auburn took a 13-2 lead only to see LSU rally to 13-9. Once again the Bengal Tigers could come no closer as Auburn closed out the match.