AUBURN, Ala. – Head coach Brent Crouch reached win No. 150 in his illustrious career as Auburn (20-8, 10-7) took care of business, 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-18) over Alabama (10-18, 0-17) in front of a raucous crowd inside Neville Arena on Wednesday evening.
Forcing the Crimson Tide out of system was the goal going in and the Orange and Blue delivered from the opening serve. Chelsey Harmon, Kyla Swanson, Fallan Lanham and Jackie Barrett all made good runs throughout the frame.
It was Swanson's aggression, though, that spurred a 7-0 run and Crouch's crew never looked back.
A balanced attack saw Madison Scheer put down four kills on nine swings with just one error. Meanwhile, Akasha Anderson found four of her own on 13 attempts.
Defensively, Sophomore Kendal Kemp put up an early wall to grab two quick blocks, reaching 300 for her career. The Eagan, Minnesota native is now just the eighth Tiger in program history to eclipse 300.
The serving runs, good passing, stout defense and overall offense prowess led the Tigers to a quick 25-14 set win.
Frame No. 2 featured more of the same. Scheer and Anderson combined for another eight kills while Swanson put down three of her five in the second set.
It was Sarah Morton who stole the show in the back row, though. The sophomore from Munster, Indiana gobbled up seven kills in the penultimate set. She would finish with 19 total digs, averaging a gargantuan 6.33 per set.
Three more momentum-swinging blocks from Anderson, Scheer, Bella Bell and Swanson were more than enough to give Auburn a commanding, 2-0, lead.
Barrett and the offense saved its best performance for last. Hitting .306 during the third set as a team, Anderson was the main beneficiary of the potent attack, swinging for seven more kills. Finishing with 15 for the evening along with 10 digs, Anderson secured her eighth double-double of the season.
While the Tigers didn't finish with an ace in the final stanza, the team still held Alabama to just .103 hitting. With Lanham at the service line, it was Anderson who dealt the final blow, completing the sweep of the in-state rival. Auburn has now bested the Crimson Tide in seven consecutive matches.
MATCH NOTES
- Brent Crouch picked up his 150th career win
- With the win, Auburn achieves its second straight 20-win season. It's the third 20-win campaign in the rally-scoring era, the first back-to-back 20-win season since 1991-92 and the 14th 20-win year overall.
- The Tigers have also matched its 10-8 sec record from a season ago. It's also the seventh 10-win conference campaign in program history and the first back-to-back since 1996-97.
- Crouch is now 6-0 against the Crimson Tide.
- Auburn has won seven straight over its in-state rival
- The team's 57 digs were the most in a three-set match this season
- With 10 total team blocks, Auburn has now reached double digits in 14 matches this season and three matches in a row
- Kendal Kemp eclipsed 300 career blocks and became the eighth Tiger in program history to reach the feat
- Sarah Morton's 19 digs were the most in a three-set match for Auburn this season and ties for the fourth-most in any SEC Match this year
- Akasha Anderson (15 kills, 10 digs) notched her eighth double-double of the year
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"Very proud of the win today. There were multiple sets in a row across the last two matches where I thought the execution was good enough and the energy was at the right level, playing defense at the right level. We talk about defense quite a bit and I thought we did a nice just against both them and LSU on Sunday. It was fun to be a part of.
"To be able to end up with another 20-win season and at least 10 wins in conference when the challenges are so different than last year means it's a huge step forward."
UP NEXT
Auburn remains home for the final match of the regular season when the Tigers host No. 9 Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. CT. Doors open one hour before first serve and admission is free.