ATHENS, Ga. – Down two sets to none, the No. 24 Auburn Tigers (16-5, 6-4) never quit, rallying to reverse sweep Georgia (13-8, 4-5), 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-11).
Both offenses started off hot early. As the first set wore on, though, it was Georgia that was able to take advantage of opportunities.
Both Chelsey Harmon and Bel Zimmerman put down aces while Madison Scheer added four kills to keep things close late. In fact, three of Zimmerman's four aces came in the opening frame.
A quick run from the Bulldogs, however, gave the opening set to the home side.
Serve-receive was the name of the game in set two. The Auburn offense actually had its best outing in the second set, hitting .392 at one point. When they were out of system, though, it was a different story.
Tied up at 13-13, Georgia managed a 5-1 run and never looked back. Five more kills from Scheer wasn't enough to catch the Bulldogs as the Tigers found themselves in an 0-2 hole.
Auburn fans have learned to never count out the Tigers, though.
Crouch's crew started to figure some things out in the third. As the serve-receive improved, so did the Tigers' score. Paige Thibault, Zoe Slaughter and the rest of the back row found their rhythm and ran down balls that allowed the likes of Scheer and Co. to kill.
Thibault, fresh off a career-high 23 digs on Sunday against South Carolina, found another 23 on Friday.
Halfway, through the third set, Auburn was holding Georgia to just .045 hitting. Aggressive serving led to momentum-swinging blocks. Both Kendal Kemp and Kyla Swanson swatted away seven Bulldogs attacks to lead the front row. Jackie Barrett collected five and Scheer managed another four.
Barrett's 46 assists and 12 digs marked her team-leading 12th double-double of the year.
As Zimmerman pounced on the final kill in the third, the Orange and Blue faithful inside Stegemen Coliseum began to feel the tides turn.
Thibault, Slaughter and Akasha Anderson each took turns at the service line early and none of them had any intention of leaving. Scoring runs aplenty allowed the Tigers to build a lead as large as seven towards the end of the frame.
As the match drifted into set No. 5, there was no question where the momentum lay.
In high-pressure moments, Crouch's teams always seem to rise to the occasion. That was the case once more on Friday in the final stanza.
Scheer, the Eureka, Missouri native put down a pair of her 24 kills on the night, tying her career-best.
Thibault ran down a couple of major digs. Meanwhile, Swanson, Kemp and Barrett each rallied for a block. Slaughter, Zimmerman and Harmon all conjured up an ace apiece. It was a collective effort up and down the roster and a performance that never put the victory in doubt.
Bella Bell put the final nail in the coffin, solidifying Auburn's first reverse sweep of the season and first since beating Missouri on Oct. 15, 2022.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn is now 4-1 in five-set matches this season
- In the last two seasons, the Tigers are 10-4 in five-setters
- Brent Crouch is now 13-10 in five-set matches at Auburn and 40-32 in his career
- Madison Scheer (24 kills) tied her career-high and served up her second-straight 20-kill performance
- Akasha Anderson (11 kills) reached double digits for the 16th time this year
- Kyla Swanson and Kendal Kemp led the team with seven blocks. Swanson has had at least seven blocks in four of her last five matches.
- Jackie Barrett (46 assists, 12 digs) collected her team-leading 12th double-double of the season
- Bel Zimmerman tied her career-high with four aces
- Paige Thibault tied her career-best with 23 digs
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"I thought as the match went on, we just got more comfortable with what they were doing. When you play away, sometimes it's like that. You've got to get used to the gym and the environment and sometimes it takes a set or two. They have a unique offense. They run fast sets to the left side, faster than anybody else. Then they run a lot of slow balls to the middle from all sorts of medium situations. We practice for that but you might need a set or two to get used to it.
"I thought we did a really nice job in sets three, four and five, serving them tougher than we did in the first set. We got more comfortable with what they were doing with Sophie Fischer and we were able to slow her quite a bit. We were able to finally weather the storm with their servers. They're a good serving team and they got a bunch of aces against us but they clustered more in the first and second sets and we were able to calm down enough in serve-receive to get the ball to the net. When we passed well, we didn't have any problems.
On success in five-set matches…
"There's a lot of belief in our group and a lot of connection between the players. I think when things get tight, those are the two things that matter. Can you rely on the people next to you or can you rely on the coaching staff to feel like they're supported or believed in? We probably sub less than most teams. When we get down, we don't typically make big adjustments with personnel. There's a reason we've got the people out there and we believe in them. We'll just keep giving them positive feedback and that we're going to be ok. I think that helps build confidence in them. It's just a matter of time before they can get it done. They hate losing. They just do and they make big plays when it matters."
UP NEXT
Auburn turns around and heads west to Tuscaloosa for the first of two matchups with the Crimson Tide this season on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. CT. The Tigers won't be back to Neville Arena until Nov. 8 when the team hosts Kentucky.