AUBURN, Ala. – Twelve and one half blocks in just three sets of volleyball propelled Auburn (19-8, 9-7) to a triumphant home sweep, 3-2 (25-12, 25-14, 25-23) over LSU (11-15, 6-10) on Sunday.
Right from the opening serve, the Orange and Blue were focused and ready to go.
Senior Chelsey Harmon kicked the match off with four consecutive serves that would've been tough for any passer to handle. The Puyallup, Washington native powered her team to a quick 3-1 lead and Auburn never looked back in the opening frame.
Madison Scheer went a perfect 4-4 while Akasha Anderson was right behind with three kills on her six swings. Scheer, Anderson, Kyla Swanson and Kendal Kemp each stacked up a pair of blocks to add a mountain of momentum for the Orange and Blue.
The Auburn front row would finish with 12.5 total blocks, marking the second consecutive match with that number and the 13th time this season the Tigers have eclipsed double digits.
When all totaled, Auburn scorched LSU for a .632 hitting percentage while keeping the SEC foe to .000 to take the early lead.
Set No. 2 was borderline a carbon copy for head coach Brent Crouch and co. Senior setter Jackie Barrett guided the offense to another hitting percentage north of .400, allowing the likes of Scheer and Anderson to swing away.
Bella Bell joined the kill parade as well, putting down four kills on five swings in the second set.
Auburn's success at the service is what paved the way all afternoon inside Neville Arena, though. While Barrett tallied two aces, the Highland, California product produced multiple scoring runs along with Harmon, Fallan Lanham, Sarah Morton and even Kyla Swanson.
While her blockers were busy doing their jobs on the front end, Morton made sure to keep up in the back row. She would run down a match-high 12 digs while Anderson countered with 11 of her own to grab her seventh double-double of the season.
LSU wasn't going to leave home to Baton Rouge that easily, though. Sturdier serving in the third set led to a handful of blocks from the away side and kept the set close throughout.
Anderson, however, was ready to put her final stamp on the contest. Eight of the sophomore's 14 kills came in the final stanza. The Reston, Virginia native finished with 14 kills on a sublime .448 hitting percentage with 11 digs and three blocks. It was her final kill that put the cherry on top for Auburn, clinching its second conference sweep of the season.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn's win over LSU was its first since 2016 and first sweep since 1999
- The sweep was Auburn's fourthof the season and second in SEC play. It's first conference sweep came at Florida on Oct. 6.
- LSU's .039 hitting percentage was the second-lowest for an Auburn opponent this season. The Tigers previously held Mercer to -.053 on Sept. 9.
- The Tigers reached 12.5 blocks for the second straight matched and reached double digits for the 13th time this season
- Auburn hit .344 as a team for the match, marking the 10th time the Tigers have hit north of .300 this season. Crouch's team is 10-0 in such match in 2023.
- Madison Scheer (10 kills) reached double digits for the 21st this season
- Sarah Morton (12 digs) reached double digits for the 13th time this year
- Akasha Anderson (14 kills, 11 digs) notched her seventh double-double of the year
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"We really dominated, which was great to see. We've had a lot of five-setters, we've had a four-setter here and there but we haven't had a lot of sweeps in conference. I think the last one was Florida. When I'm looking at the stats, they're kind of similar to that match. That's great. We've been talking about playing with some more consistency and we've been talking about playing with a little more urgency, regardless of what the score is.
"I thought we had a really nice team meeting a few days ago, where we kind of recommitted ourselves to taking responsibility for the things that we need to, individually. It was actually a really special meeting. I can't tell you guys about it, though. That's the inner workings. We're not sharing that. It was that kind of special meeting and to see the team respond the way they did today, I'm not surprised because they're all such great players and good people and they want to win and play well. It's really great to get a win like this heading into the last couple of matches."
UP NEXT
Auburn remains home on Wednesday, Nov. 22 when Alabama comes to Neville Arena. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will also be streamed live on SEC Network Plus.