Special to the News

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU capitalized on an Auburn turnover just 24 seconds into overtime to spoil Auburn’s chance at an upset of the No. 19 team in the nation, 2-1, on Friday night.

Malorie Rutledge ended the game with her shot from inside the 18-yard box that was over of the reach of the outstretched arms of Auburn goalkeeper Allison Whitworth, who finished with six saves on the night.

Auburn had controlled the ball in its defensive third but misplayed the ball, allowing LSU’s Melissa Clarke to gain control of possession. She then found Rutledge, who rifled in her fourth goal of the season.

“There is a lot of heartbreak tonight. We should have had two or three (goals) in the first half,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We made a bad pass in the back. Our centerbacks misplayed the ball and LSU was able to run in and intercept it score a goal that I don’t think we were ready for because we were on offense.”

LSU came out of the locker room at halftime just as it did at the start of the game, controlling the scoring chances while limiting Auburn’s. The pressure finally paid off for LSU in the 63rd minute as Amanda Carreno scored her third goal of the season following a collection of LSU corners and sustained pressure. Carreno only took one touch inside the 18, firing it to Allison Whitworth’s right for the game-tying goal, making it 1-1.

LSU had dominated the quality scoring chances in the first 10 minutes with only a Jenn Johnson clear of a LSU cross and a Stephanie Fransoso near-side save on the post ensuring Auburn’s survival of the early going without allowing a goal.

However, in the 20th minute Auburn started to turn the tables on a LSU. Jenni Prescott was inches away from putting Auburn on the board in the 25th minute as her shot off of a Kara Kasten cross was saved by the toe of LSU keeper Mo Isom. Then in the 26th minute Auburn’s top point-scorer Rebecca Howell was able to get one through Isom, as her shot from inside the box off of a Katy Frierson cross trickled through
Isom to put Auburn up, 1-0. The assist by Frierson was her 13th point in the last six games for the freshman.

Auburn remains on the road for another crucial SEC West match, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., to face Arkansas at 1p.m. on Sunday.

Volleyball loses to UGA in 5 sets
Jessica Glover tallied a season-high 22 kills, hitting a blazing .415, but it was not enough as the Auburn volleyball team (5-13, 0-7 SEC) fell to Georgia (10-9, 3-5 SEC) Friday night in a 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 10-15) decision at the Student Activities Center.

Auburn posted a .165 attack percentage, topping the .161 from Georgia, and picked up six more digs than the Bulldogs in the loss. It marked just the second time this season for the Tigers to lose when out-hitting their opponent.

“We’re playing well and getting better all the time,” said head coach Wade Benson. “We are very young, so we ’are going to make mistakes, but I was really impressed with the way we came through in set four when we were down late”

Auburn spread out the offensive attack with nine different Tigers recording at least one kill in the match. Freshman Kelly Fidero and sophomore Milena Bukinac followed Glover’s 22 kills with seven each while Olympia Haney, Lauren Mellor and Alyssa Davis trailed with five each.

Tsyrenov, Puetz continue consolation play
TULSA, Okla. — Auburn’s Alexey Tsyrenov and Tim Puetz continued in the consolation bracket of the D’Novo/ITA Men’s All-American Championship Friday. Both played in the singles and doubles competition.

Puetz defeated Graeme Kassautski of New Mexico in the first round, 6-4, 6-2, advancing into the second round where he took on Texas Tech’s Raony Carvalho in a 7-5, 6-2 loss.

Puetz saw Carvalho in doubles action earlier in the tournament. Puetz and Tsyrenov fell to Carvalho and Christian Rjomar, 8-6.

Tsyrenov defeated Andres Arango of Arizona, 6-4, 6-0, in the first round to advance. He advanced to the quarterfinals defeating Roy Kalmanovich of Illinios, 6-2, 6-4.

He will take on South Florida’s Lucas Jovita at 9:30 a.m., today. Puetz and Tsyrenov moved on to the second round of doubles after Daniel Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau (Alabama) withdrew from the match. In the second round the pair defeated Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala of Texas,8-4.

The duo will play Jean-Yves Aubone and Clint Bowles of Florida State today in the semifinals.