No.12 Kentucky volleyball fell short 3-2 against the Auburn Tigers in its SEC opener Friday night.
The Cats would start off strong in the first set, but Auburn would slowly gain momentum throughout, creating a back-and-forth start for both teams. The Tigers would take a 15-13 lead at the first media timeout after a 3-0 run.
The Wildcats would regroup after the media timeout and slowly get their momentum back and, while tied 21, Brooklyn DeLeye would record a kill and an ace back-to-back to give UK a 23-21 lead, forcing an Auburn timeout. DeLeye would then record her second ace to win the first set 25-21.
Back for set two, Kentucky continued what it started in the first set, taking a 7-4 lead early off a 3-0 run. By the middle of the set, Kentucky led 18-12, forcing Auburn into its first timeout of the set in a well-rounded effort.
After multiple service errors and a kill by Brooke Bultema, Kentucky would win the second set 25-18 in convincing fashion.
The third set would be a different story to start, however, with Auburn finally finding its rhythm offensively and the Wildcats stalling early. The Tigers would lead 13-9, forcing a UK timeout.
Kentucky would cut the lead down to two before a 4-0 Auburn run gave the Tigers momentum back. Ultimately, Auburn would flip the script on Kentucky and win set three in dominant fashion 25-16.
Set four would start off back-and-forth, with both teams holding the advantage at different stages, but it was Kentucky that ultimately held the lead 12-10 to force an Auburn timeout early in the set.
Following the timeout, Auburn would storm back on a 10-4 run that put it up 20-16 late.
Kentucky would try to fight back, but didn’t have enough gas to match Auburn as the Tigers closed it out, winning 25-20 and tying the match.
Entering a fifth-and-final set, the Wildcats had felt momentum working against them and sought to finish off the Tigers once and for all.
It was dead even for seemingly the entire set with teams trading blows repeatedly and neither team leading by more than two at any point in the set.
With the Cats trailing by one, 15-14, the Auburn Tigers would commit a service error that would lead to a block by both Megan Wilson and Jordyn Dailey to take the lead back 16-15, forcing an Auburn timeout.
The tides would turn once again, however, as, just when the Cats seemingly had full control, Auburn would explode out of the timeout, erupting for a 3-0 run that both ended the set and the match with Auburn winning the final set 18-16 and the match 3-2.
The Wildcats will continue their road trip at No.15 ranked Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.