Volleyball: Georgia defeats Auburn in a five-set heartbreaker in the Auburn Arena.

Auburn, Ala. An SEC Volleyball showdown took place in the Auburn Arena Wednesday night between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 3-2 in a five-set heartbreaker (26-24, 25-15, 25-22, 21-25,18-20). Auburn is now 8-7 overall and 1-4 in SEC play.  

Senior Brenna Mcllroy led the Tigers with 19 kills, followed by Anna Stevenson and Taylor Rowland with 9 kills. Mica Allison finished the night with 46 assists and Bella Rosenthall had 18 digs. 

Auburn came out firing in the first set, with a score of 7-2. Anna Stevenson played a major role in the first set, putting a wall up at the net. She had 6 blocks on the night, including one to start the match off strong. The Bulldogs regrouped and tied the match up at 16-16. A kill from Taylor Rowland sealed the first set for the Tigers, 26-24. 

The Bulldogs came out strong in set two. When score reached 17-9, the Tigers took a timeout to refocus. Georgia eventually prevailed with a score of 25-15. 

The third set started with the Tigers being up 4-1. Brenna Mcllroy has a big block and kill to push the Tigers lead. As the set continued, the Tigers extended their lead to 19-11. Georgia came back to tie the set 16-16, before a stuff block from Stevenson/Allison put Auburn on a run 19-16. Gwen Jones makes a big block to give Auburn set point. The Tigers take set three 25-22. 

 Set four started off with 12 ties and six lead changes, but a kill from Mcllroy puts Auburn up 15-13 and forces a Bulldog timeout. After the timeout, Georgia went on a five-point run, and they eventually prevailed 25-21, forcing a fifth set.  

The fifth set started the same way as the fourth, with 11 ties and four lead changes. Georgia eventually took the lead 14-11, but after a missed serve and strong kills from Auburn, the score was 14 all. Shaina White and Mica Allison had a key stuff block to give the Tigers match point, 17-16. Allison had a solo stuff block to tie the game back up at 18-18. But Georgia used their powerful outside hitters to take the match 20-18.

Auburn will host rival Alabama on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Auburn Arena. The game will also be aired on SEC+. 

Written by: Kaitlin Kiernan