OMAHA, Neb. – Auburn Volleyball's historic 2022 season came to a close Saturday. A gritty effort from everyone up and down the roster just wasn't enough as No. 23 Houston outlasted the Tigers, 3-2 (25-27, 25-16, 12-25, 25-23, 15-8).
Much like Friday evening, Auburn's freshmen trio of Akasha Anderson, Madison Scheer and Bel Zimmerman spent most of the first set settling into the match.
At the midway point, though, it was Houston who had the upper hand. A couple of service errors for the Tigers and a few hitting miscues mean the Orange and Blue trailed by as many as six in the opening frame.
However, as the Auburn faithful have come to expect, this feisty bunch never gives up.
An Anderson block after the longest rally of the set gave the Tigers life. The Cougars even had three set points in a row but Auburn sensed blood in the water. Two kills from Scheer and one from Anderson tied it up.
After fighting off a fourth set point, a timely Sarah Morton ace gave Auburn its first lead since it was 2-0. Scheer finally killed off the set with her seventh kill to give her team the lead.
The Tigers began the second set with as much energy as the first. Perhaps too much.
An 8-0 Cougar gave Houston its largest lead of the match. Once more, head coach Brent Crouch's resilient youngsters spawned a 6-0 run of their own to force a timeout.
Ultimately, .333 hitting from the Cougars proved too much to overcome and the match evened at one set apiece.
What Houston did to Auburn in the second, Auburn returned the favor with authority.
Sydney Handel set the tone with a 4-0 run at the service line. It would take the freshman a while to reappear as the Orange and Blue rattled off a 7-0 run to shock the Cougars. Blocks from Harmon and aces from Barrett seem to come in from everywhere.
Barrett guided the Tiger offense to a .310 hitting effort but it was the five suffocating blocks that allowed Auburn to take the lead after a 25-12 set win.
Handel led off the fourth set with more nifty serving. Back-to-back aces from the Lee's Summit product gave Auburn its first lead of the set.
A strong counterpunch gave the lead back to Houston, though. In an effort that mimicked the first, the Tigers nearly fought off three straight set points. A .255 hitting effort and four blocks for the Cougars inevitably sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
Auburn did what they could in the fifth. Scheer, Anderson, Zimmerman and Harmon all registered a kill in the effort. Harmon and Zimmerman even combined for a block. In the end, it just wasn't enough to outlast the Cougars as the Tigers fell in five.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn ends the season 22-9, the most wins for the Tigers in the rally-scoring era
- Madison Scheer's 17 kills were the most by any Tiger in a single match in the NCAA Tournament
- Auburn recorded 12 blocks, marking the 15th time the Tigers have had at least 10 in a match
- Akasha Anderson (13 kills, 10 digs) recorded her ninth double-double of the season
- Jackie Barrett (42 assists, 12 digs) snagged her 12th double-double of the season
- Sarah Morton (22 digs) grabbed double-digit digs for the 26th time this season and reached 20 digs for the sixth time in 2022
- Kendal Kemps's\ single-season record for blocks stands at 180.0