AU ROUNDUP: Volleyball falls in sweep at LSU

By: Special to the News | Opelika Auburn News
Published: November 02, 2009

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Auburn volleyball squad fell to No. 20 LSU, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-20), on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers dropped to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in SEC play, while LSU improved to 18-5 overall and 12-2 in conference play.

“We came out uninspired right away and that stuck with us throughout the entire match,” Auburn head coach Wade Benson said. “We’re looking towards our match with South Carolina on Friday and we need to pick up and prepare hard if we want to get back to winning.”

Sophomore Kelly Fidero led the squad with eight kills, while junior Morgan Johns and freshman Katherine Culwell each had six on the day.

Cuwell finished with a match-high 21 digs, while junior libero Liz Crouch recorded 14 digs.

Brittnee Cooper led LSU with 15 kills, while Lauren Waclawczyk finished with a team-best 16 digs. Sam Dabbs had 38 assists and Marina Skender finished with 10 digs.

LSU took an early lead, going up 5-3 in the first set and pushing a 4-1 run to take the 9-5 advantage. A 3-0 Auburn run brought the Tigers within 1 at 9-8, but LSU pulled ahead to go up 15-10. LSU continued to drive and took its largest lead at 22-12. LSU went on to win the set 25-15.

The second set saw LSU take a quick 7-1 lead, but a pair Fidero kills and a service ace from Crouch brought the Tigers within 3 at 7-4. A big LSU rally gave the home squad a 16-6 lead and the team pushed on to win the set 25-12.

The two squads battled throughout the first part of the third set until LSU pulled away to take a 7-4 lead. LSU pushed another run to take a 13-8 advantage and continued to build on its lead until a kill from Fidero and a LSU attack error brought Auburn within 5 at 18-13. Kills from Sarah Bullock and Lauren Mellor triggered a 3-point Auburn rally and a service ace from Mellor cut the LSU lead to three at 22-19. LSU finished the set on a 3-1 run to win 25-20.

The Tigers continue their SEC road swing, traveling to South Carolina on Friday for a 6 p.m. match.

Auburn then travels to Florida at 12:30 p.m. next Sunday.