AUBURN, Ala. – Number 24 Auburn’s (13-2) win streak was extended to seven matches Friday night against rival Georgia before welcoming the Aggies of Texas A&M (11-2) to Neville Arena on Sunday. The Aggies snapped the win streak defeating the Tigers in four sets.
The first set went back and forth for the first 12 points with both the Tigers and Aggies trading blow for blow. After a misfire off the arm of Texas A&M’s Logan Lednicky, Auburn took the lead 12-11. However, A&M quickly recovered and went on 6-0 run to take control of the set. Auburn pushed back to within two late, but the Aggies slammed the door, taking set 1 by a score of 25-20.
Set two was point for point coming out of the gates until freshman Lauren Dreves knocked two aces into the Aggie defense and sparked a 6-0 run of their own, giving Auburn an early 13-7 lead over Texas A&M. A&M responded, tying the set at 17 a piece, but the Tigers’ offense was in such a groove. Auburn won seven of the last eight points behind fun service runs by Peyton Dunn and once again, Lauren Dreves. This pushed the Tigers to the set two victory, 25-18.
A&M held the lead for a majority of set three, taking the lead 10-9 early and despite the Tigers' effort, Texas A&M held off their attempts to take control back. Logan Lednicky was the obvious standout for the Aggies, having 8 kills for Texas A&M in set three alone. Lednicky and the Aggies kept a 2- or 3-point lead over the Tigers for most of the latter parts of the set, eventually putting Auburn down, 25-21.
The fourth and final set of the day was more of the same, Auburn had a couple too many little mistakes. Auburn had five service errors in the set. Once again the Tigers stayed close but could never take control of the set. The Aggies pulled away to a 22-18 lead late and that was enough for Texas A&M to put away the match in the win column. A final missed kill from Madison Scheer wrapped it up, 25-19.
During the match, Chelsea McCurdy had block number 200 for her career while Bel Zimmerman spiked her 500th kill in her two years on the plains. Auburn was led by Madison Scheer in kills with 13, followed by Bel Zimmerman and Lauren Dreves who both had 10. Texas A&M was led by Logan Lednicky who had a season best 23 kills for the Aggies. Auburn lost the dig battle by 12, something that they rarely do this season. Overall, the mistakes by Auburn combined with the ability of A&M led to a disappointing second loss of the season for Auburn, who fell to 13-2 and for the first time in SEC competition.
Auburn Volleyball takes to the road for their first away SEC matches of the year. The Tigers will travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State next Sunday before traveling back in state to play the rival Crimson Tide of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The match against Mississippi State will be live on SEC Network, while the Iron Bowl of Volleyball will be on SECN+.
