Tennessee Sweeps Auburn, Now Even In SEC Play

MATCH STATS

• Tennessee Defeats Tennessee (25-21, 25-23, 30-28)
• Team’s Record: Tennessee (15-8) (5-5 SEC), Auburn (13-11) (7-4 SEC)
• Schedules: Tennessee here, Auburn here

RECAP

Fresh off their win over Alabama on Friday, the Tennessee Volunteers continued to roll with a straight set victory over the Auburn Tigers. Auburn tried to extend the match, taking a 6-3 lead in the third set, before falling 28 to 30. The third set had 8 lead changes.

Tennessee’s offense was led by Bri Holmes (13 kills), Erica Treiber (12 kills) and Kendra Turner (9 kills). Treiber also led the match in blocks with 4, while Brooke Schumacher picked up a team-high 16 digs. Lady Vol Sedona Hansen led the match in assists with 42, and service aces with 3.

Auburn had the biggest hitters of the match: Gwyn Jones had 14 kills, Courtney Crable had 13 and Breanna Barksdale had 10. Jesse Earl tied with Tennessee’s Schumacher for the most digs in the match (16), and Alexa Filley was right behind her with 15. Filley also led her team in assists with 39.

Tennessee will return to action on Friday, November 4th, hosting Missouri at 7 p.m. (EST). Auburn will also host an SEC team on Friday, playing a ranked Kentucky team at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Volunteers wrapped up a 2-0 SEC volleyball weekend with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 30-28) victory over Auburn on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Coming off a 3-0 win Friday at Alabama, the Vols (15-8, 5-5 SEC) snapped Auburn’s five-match winning streak and have now won four of their last five matches.

“We played two good teams, especially Auburn today, which was on a five-match winning streak and had a lot of confidence and was playing good volleyball,” Tennessee volleyball coach Rob Patrick said. “To be able to come out and play with so much energy and stop a really energetic, well-coached Auburn team, I’m really happy about that. A lot of people contributed in both the Alabama match and the Auburn match.”

Senior Bri Holmes led the Vols with 13 kills and added seven digs. Sophomore Erica Treiber had 12 kills and hit .435 for the match with four blocks.

Both teams hits for a high percentage, with Tennessee hitting .308 for the match behind 42 assists from freshman setter Sedona Hansen. Auburn (13-11, 7-4) hit .294 for the match, including .357 in the final, wire-close set.

In the first set, the Vols pulled away with a 5-0 to go ahead 20-16 on an ace by Kanisha Jimenez. Auburn won three of the next four points to close the gap to 21-19, but the Vols held on to their lead, eventually taking the set 25-21 on a kill by Bri Holmes. Tennessee hit .433 for the set, compared to .220 for Auburn.

Down two points late in the second set, the Vols scored three unanswered points to lead 23-22. Auburn tied the match at 23-23 but Tennessee won the next two points to take the second 25-23 on an attack error by the Tigers.

The third set came down to the wire. The Vols fought off two set points and finally came through on their third set point thanks to a 3-0 run. From the outside Holmes powered a shot off the top of Auburn’s block and out of play to seal the set and match, 30-28.

NOTES

• Tennessee starters: Erica Treiber, Raina Hembry, Sedona Hansen, Kanisha Jimenez, Bri Holmes, Britney Vallez and Brooke Schumacher at libero.
• Kanisha Jimenez recorded a season-high three aces in the win. She is the sixth Vol to record at least three aces in a match this season and the most aces in a match since Grubbs had three against Georgia (9/25).
• Two Vols hit above .400 for the match: Erica Treiber (12 kills-3 assists-23 attacks, .435) and Kendra Turner (9 kills, 2 errors, 16 attacks, .438).
• Sedona Hansen has recorded at least 40 assists in 10 matches this season. She finished Sunday with 47.
• The Vols are 7-1 at home this season.

UP NEXT

• The Vols play a pair of matches next week, hosting conference leader Missouri on Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern and travel to Texas A&M for a Sunday match at 2:30 p.m.

Courtesy of Auburn Athletics:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Auburn volleyball dropped a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 30-28) match to Tennessee Sunday afternoon in Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Tigers (13-11, 7-4) were led by freshman Gwyn Jones with 14 kills and junior Courtney Crable with 13. Junior Breanna Barksdale added 10 kills for the Tigers.

Junior setter Alexa Filley recorded her 14th double-double of the season with 39 assists and 15 digs. Junior libero Jesse Earl led the Tigers with 16 digs in the match.

Tennessee (15-8, 5-5) had two in double-digit kills in Bri Holmes (13) and Erica Treiber (12). Setter Sedona Hansen had 42 assists and libero Brooke Schumacher finished with 16 digs.

The Vols pushed an early 8-4 lead in the first before Auburn responded to go up 13-12. Tennessee used a 5-0 run late in the set to take a 20-16 lead and the home squad closed out with a 25-21 win.

Kills from Crable and Barksdale tied set two at 6-6 and a 5-1 Auburn at the midpoint made it 15-14 Tigers. Another Crable kill and a Crable/ Macy Reece block put the visitors up at 19-17 and back-to-back kills by Jones lifted the Tigers to a 22-20 advantage. The Vols, however, used strong serving to close out the set on a 5-1 rally and took the second with a 25-23 victory.

A trio of Volunteer hitting errors helped Auburn take a 6-3 lead in the third. Tennessee regrouped halfway through the set and used a six-point run to go up 14-10. A pair of kills from Crable brought Auburn with two at 20-18 and a late Tiger rally pushed AU to a 23-22 lead. A kill from Barksdale made it 24-23, but the Vols held off set point three times. UT went on to take the match, 30-28.

The Tigers return to Auburn Arena, Nov. 4, for a 5:30 p.m. CT match vs. nationally-ranked Kentucky.