JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – History rewritten.
Head coach Brent Crouch and the Auburn Volleyball team have been no less than perfect during non-conference play. With a sweep of Jackson State, 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-16) and a five-set thriller over Jacksonville State, 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 15-11), the Tigers reset the program record for the best start to a season at 11-0.
GAME 1 vs JACKSON STATE
Early on in the first set, Jackie Barrett had the offense rolling. Hitting over .400, Barrett was distributing the wealth, allowing the likes of Akasha Anderson, Bel Zimmerman and Madison Scheer to stack up the kills.
Middle blocker Chelsey Harmon also got in on the action, grabbing three kills on six swings. A sign of things to come.
Anderson led the way early, though, piling up five kills on her 13 attempts. And despite Jackson State making things difficult in the later stages of the set, two blocks from Kendal Kemp sealed the opening frame and gave Auburn the early lead.
Jackson State dictated much of the second set and with the Lady Tigers up by seven, Brent Crouch called time.
Auburn Responded.
Energy and defense brought life back into the Orange and Blue, leading to an 8-1 run towards the end of the set. Anderson, Scheer and Zimmerman demonstrated what kind of force each of their arms possessed.
The attacking trio, combined with two more blocks at the end, allowed Auburn to rescue the second stanza, 26-24.
Feeling a touch of momentum after the run to end the second, Auburn kept up their offensive prowess in the third. Anderson, Zimmerman and Harmon all strutted their stuff as in-system passing allowed Barrett to keep the offense running at a high level.
Auburn also received a big boost when Fallan Lanham went to the service line. A 4-1 run with Lanham dealing included one an ace and created some much-needed separation from Jackson State.
It was Harmon, though, who proved to be the deadliest attack for the Tigers. With 12 kills on 17 swings and zero errors gave the Puyallup, Washington native a .706 hitting percentage for the morning, the third best in program history.
In the end, a 6-1 run put the final nail in the coffin, handing Auburn the sweep and extending its perfect record to 10-0, the best start in Tiger Volleyball history.
GAME 2 at JACKSONVILLE STATE
Freshman Madison Scheer came out Saturday night on absolute fire and never cooled off. The Eureka, Missouri native went three-for-three before the media timeout hit, propelling the Tigers to an early advantage.
Tough serving from Auburn, including a 3-0 run from Cassidy Tanton continued to apply the pressure. Everything seemed to be clicking for Jackie Barrett's offense as the back row was able to put balls in system, giving Barrett the ability to distribute to multiple hitters.
Scheer and Bel Zimmerman led the way with five kills apiece in the opening set, Akasha Anderson collected four while Kendal Kemp had three of her own.
As a team, the Tigers were pounding the ball with authority, hitting at a rate of .450.
Crouch and company knew Jacksonville State was going to make a game of it. For most of the second set, the Gamecocks hung tough, going blow-for-blow with the Tigers.
Kendal Kemp and Akasha Anderson block tied things at 13, allowing Barrett to get to the service line. A healthy dose of the junior combined with lights-out hitting kept JSU at arm's length.
A big block near the end of the frame from Zimmerman and Harmon gave Auburn the cushion it needed to take the commanding two-set lead.
Again JSU hung around in the third. While Scheer and Anderson each eclipsed the double-digit kill mark, the Gamecocks still maintained the lead at the media timeout.
Ultimately, too many errors from both attacking and from the service line forced a set No. 4.
Kendal Kemp and the front row did their best to keep Jacksonville State at bay but the Gamecocks were just as resilient.
Out of a timeout, Madison Scheer dialed up three straight kills and a block assist but it wasn't enough as JSU forced a decisive fifth set.
If the Auburn faithful wanted excitement on a Saturday night, they didn't have to look any further than the fifth set.
Right away, it was Madison Scheer who set the tone. Her career night continued with her 18th kill of the night to start the fifth. The youngster would end with 22.
Dynamic serving from Fallan Lanham gave the Tigers an even further lead. Lanham would tally her third ace of the night at the most crucial moment.
Still, the Gamecocks would not surrender.
At the media timeout, JSU led 8-7 and for yet another time, the Tigers responded. Big play after big play turned a raucous Pete Mathews Coliseum quiet. As Bel Zimmerman dealt the final blow, Auburn extended its perfect record to 11-0.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn's 11-0 start to the season is the best in program history
- Akasha Anderson, Bel Zimmerman and Chelsey Harmon all ended with 12 kills in the sweep over Jackson State
- With a .706 hitting percentage, Harmon dialed up the third-best percentage in Auburn History
- Harmon's 12 kills were a season-best for the junior transfer from Portland
- Zimmerman's 12 kills were a career-high for the freshman
- Sarah Morton (10 digs vs Jackson State) reached the double-digit dig mark in nine of the 10 matches she's played and seven matches in a row
- Jackie Barrett's 41 assists against Jackson State were a season-high
- Barret's 57 assists, and 11 digs versus the Gamecocks were good enough for her second double-double of the season
- Barrett's 57 assists were a career-high and a season-high for the Tigers
- Auburn is now 2-0 on the season in five-set matches
- Crouch is now 32-28 in five-setters and 5-6 at Auburn
- Madison Scheer grabbed a career-high 22 kills on .409 hitting
- Four Tigers reached at least 10 kills against Jacksonville State. Scheer had 22, Akasha Anderson had 14, Bel Zimmerman had 13 and Kendal Kemp mustered 10.
- Kemp's 10 kills were a career-best for the freshman
- Bel Zimmerman's 13 kills were a career-high
- Sarah Morton's 15 digs against Jacksonville State extended her streak of 10+ digs in nine consecutive matches. It also gave her double-digit digs in 10 of the 11 matches this season.
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
On the record-breaking start…
"It means a ton. Part of our job as head coaches is to raise the visibility of the university and you do that through winning. When you break records and stay undefeated for as long as we have, people pay attention.
"These tournaments are hard when you play three matches in two days. We were up at 7 a.m. doing scouting and playing at 10. We didn't play our best volleyball in the morning but when it counted, we stepped up. To break the record when the average age of your team is 18, that just bodes well for the future."
On the 5-set win…
"In the first two sets, we played the best we ever have offensively. We passed extremely well and were hitting over .400 with 18 and 17 kills per set. Then they started serving tough and we got a little tentative.
"We made some errors in that third set and when that happened, the crowd came alive. They were a little quiet through those first two sets but by the third, it was just packed in there with people screaming and yelling. We haven't been in that kind of environment yet. It knocked us on our heels but to come back the way we did in the fifth set and play the way we did means the team worked through it together."
On Madison Scheer…
"She was unbelievable. We've got her in the front row with only one other hitter. We haven't really developed our back-row attack at the level we want so far. When we pass balls off the net, it's just going to be Madison hitting a high ball versus a giant block that knows it's going to her and she's still getting kills. She is just an athlete, making huge plays time and time again.